2011 planning applications total surpassed
By the end of November we had already processed 276,941 planning applications for the year. That’s 2,101 more than the total achieved for the whole of 2011.
Thanks to everyone for your continued support and keep them coming.
Updated applications by month 2005 – 2012
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Wednesday the 22nd November was our busiest day for applications ever, stopping just short of 2,000 applications in a single day.
Planning Portal Blog 
It’s a shame that the site fell over on Wed 22nd Nov otherwise you will have probably exceeded the 2,000 mark. What happened?
Hi Neil, there was unprecedented demand. We’re very disappointed about the downtime and if you were affected then apologies for the inconvenience.
At the moment we’re identifying how we can make sure this doesn’t happen again, including looking at our communications processes as well as system scalability etc. Again, sorry if you were affected.
Thanks for the update. Not rocket science really, fees increase = surge in appications prior to deadline so I was suprised to read that processes were not already in place to deal with this. Anyway, I won’t let it detract from what normally is an excellent and unrivalled service in this sector. All the best to to you and your team for the forthcoming holidays and onwards and upwards for 2013.
I found this discussion on Linked In complaining that many applications aPlanning problems
Started by Mark Hancock
http://www.linkedin.com/groupItem?view=&srchtype=discussedNews&gid=4074402&item=186237179&type=member&trk=eml-anet_dig-b_pd-ttl-hdp&ut=2UFg6cXegxHRw1
Note from Chris: You’ll need to request to join the group on LinkedIn to follow the thread. The comment author had posted the text in but I’d rather LinkedIn conversations are kept on LinkedIn if that’s OK. I recommend joining LinkedIn groups. I follow many and they’re extremely useful.
If you are on LinkedIn, please add me as a contact: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/chris-kendall/18/bba/95
I think what we as customers require is quaility of consideration and not quantity of throughput.
I’m a little surprised that applications haven’t suddenly dropped since September.
We were about to submit our plans when our esteemed Prime Minister Cameron announced the Government was going to dramatically short-cut and stream-line planning approval process. E.g. allowing 6 metre domestic extensions.
We held back awaiting details and confirmation from our local Council – but c. 2 months later – no one(including the Council !) seems to know if or when these fine words will translate into legislative action! In the meantime, I wonder how many other people are delaying their own plans and expenditures in hope !
If many, then this great Government initiative has had the opposite economic effect to that intended!
Anybody have any news please?
Hi Ben
The proposals to extend PD rights are currently out for consultation. You have until 24th December to make your views known if you’d like to participate.
Here’s a link to the official consultation page on Gov.uk: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/extending-permitted-development-rights-for-homeowners-and-businesses-technical-consultation
Thank you. That’s helpful info.
Do you know how long the Government is likely to take before it translates its original proposals and consultation feed-back into some form of directive or legislation, so that we will know how long we have to wait before revising our plans and making a submission?
Sorry Ben. I don’t know at this stage. As soon as I’m advised on the official timeline I’ll let you know.