Council is rapped

From the archive, first published Tuesday 10th Apr 2007.

CASTLE Point Council failed to meet the Government's target for deciding major applications in 2006.

In the past year, the council fell well short of dealing with at least 60 per cent of large applications within the designated 13-week period. In-stead, it only dealt with 43 per cent.

In a letter to the council, the Department for Communities and Local Government said it would be monitoring the authority's performance to ensure it improved soon.

Bill Sharp, chairman of the council's planning committee, said: "We don't have a lot of major applications, so if we miss a deadline on one, it affects our percentages. We are in the top quarter nationally in other aspects of planning, with fewer staff."