Residents can pay to speed up planning decisions

Residents will now be able to pay to have their planning applications fast tracked

A Surrey borough aiming to "ease stress" for residents wanting to build home extensions is offering to fast track planning applications for a £350 fee.

Epsom and Ewell Borough Council was one of 10 UK councils missing targets for deciding small planning applications.

The authority said the new optional service, which came into force on Monday, had been developed to meet customer demand, and would be "helpful to applicants who have a builder waiting to start work, or who need building work to start or finish by a certain date".

Residents can now pay to have their planning applications, including for home extensions, decided more quickly than the legal eight-week target.

Steve McCormick, chair of the council's licensing and planning committee, said the authority was "incredibly proud" the planning department had "overcome significant challenges" in the past year to go from underperforming to now exceeding national targets.

He said: "It is brilliant that Epsom and Ewell Borough Council can now facilitate a service which will meet an obvious need for many residents wishing to progress building projects within the borough.

“I hope that this will ease stress for many people working to tight timelines for their builds.”