35% of all applications submitted in England and Wales passed through the Portal (still increasing despite the downturn)
as did 42% of Appeals
In 2008/09 we processed more than 150,000 applications.
We had 6.1 Million visits from an average of 326,000 monthly visitors.
and spread the good word to more than 48,000 subscribers to our weekly newsletter.
Overall the number of planning applications approved in England and Wales in February, according to statistics provided by Barbour ABI was 36,381, down a whopping 37% on February 2008.
Just published stats by the UK Statistics Authority closely mirror those provided by the Portal by showing an overall reduction by 26% during the final quarter 2008 for applications decided (our sources reckon 29.1% for approvals)
The average approved for the most recent 3 months Dec – Feb show a drop to 31.8%.
Steve Quartermain took up post as Chief Planner in CLG last August.
You set questions for him, here are the answers.
Read on to discover Steve’s views on the impact of the current gloom and find out what he has in common with Delia Smith.
We’ve talked for a long time about e-enabling BC in a similar fashion to DC and we’ve gone some way to aligning advice to citizens with the Interactive House.
I’d be interested to hear from you on where you think we can and should be getting involved and what opportunity you think there is to simplify the processes.
Please Note: This is a 2009 blog post to local authorities about how best to use Lawful Development Certificates.
If you’ve arrived via Google or another search engine looking for basic information about a Lawful Development Certificate and what they do, you can find this information on the Planning Portal.
I had a very interesting conversation yesterday re the use of Lawful development certificates. More accurately the chat was mostly about how they could be used far more than they are currently. With my CLG hat firmly on we are trying hard to deliver an understandable planning process and reduce the burden on citizens who wish to make improvements to their homes.
We’re currently thinking about our objectives for the next 12 months and reflecting what went well and didn’t for the last 12.
Clearly we’ll continue to focus on increasing the number of planning applications submitted electronically and we’ll be pushing hard for take-up of the e-Consultation Hub but aside from that where do you think we should be focusing.
Back to planning after my diversions into cyberspace and a topic that’s never been hotter – efficiency and a bit about holding on to planning jobs.
If you’d like to follow new posts as they happen follow me via Twitter
Dont forget to have your say by commenting on individual posts or by using the email link at the top left of the page.
I’ve just been looking at the Lichfield DC website and was mightily impressed. It looks great and has found a brilliant use for Twitter.
As we’re looking for the best local planning sites I’d be very interested to hear your opinions on the what makes a good local authority planning website.
Hi, as promised I now have a proper blog, one which will allow you to respond openly to my comments and discuss in a hopefully positive and constructive way anything that relates to our business.
This isn’t my personal soapbox and I’ll try to refrain from musings on unrelated matters such as progress on my golf handicap or diet (going well by the way).
I can’t get into open discussions about individual planning applications otherwise I’d do nothing else, but if there is anything you would like a personal answer on you’ll see my email link on the left.
Planning Portal Blog 