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Question from: County Councillor Elwyn Vaughan Subject: Planning in Powys
Question:
With another planning officer leaving Powys Council, making it 6 since March, thus losing a wealth of experience and knowledge, as many of us feared at the last budget setting for the current year, what efforts are being taken to rectify the situation and thus alleviate the deep concern amongst applicants about the length of time and capacity within the department to cope and undertake all the work in relation to planning applications?
Minutes: Response by the Portfolio Holder:
The redesign of the Planning Service resulted in a small reduction in the number of Planners tasked with processing planning applications. This reduction was less than 1 full time equivalent. Whilst it is acknowledged that experience has been lost due to Planners choosing to leave to pursue alternative employment, the Service area has been successful in redeploying staff into this area and in recruiting three new Planners. The team is working hard to process applications as quickly as possible but this effort has been impacted by the redeployment of staff due to covid-19. I can confirm that all redeployed staff have now returned to the service area and the recovery is being aided by the temporary redeployment of Planning Policy staff to help with applications.
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