Massive planning backlog caused by staff shortages

Somerset Council says there is a national shortage of planning officers

A national shortage of planning officers is being blamed for a backlog of planning applications.

Somerset Council said it has around 2,300 applications waiting to be processed. The council is now actively recruiting new officers to get the planning process moving.

In September, a decision on new commercial units near the A303 at Sparkford had to be pushed back because the planning officer in charge had left the council.

It had taken two years to get the plans before the planning committee south meeting for a decision to be made.

Up to 34 industrial units are planned on land in Sparkford near the A303

Liberal Democrat Councillor Henry Hobhouse, who sat on the planning committee, said: "They're under a very large amount of stress and don't like it and have left."

Somerset Council agrees the delays have also been caused by rules to tackle river pollution.

Under current rules builders have to prove developments will not lead to dangerous nutrients seeping into nearby water.

It has prevented thousands of new homes being built in Somerset, particularly near the Levels and Moors.

The Liberal Democrat lead member for planning at Somerset Council, Mike Rigby said: "Applications have been held up because of the need to find a solution to the nutrient neutrality issue, the phosphate problem."

Chris Winter, the Director of Cherwyn Developments and West of England Developments said: "We've got a site at Wellington for 200 homes. Not one is going to be an affordable home because the cost of phosphate mitigation is £1m."

He added: "Something needs to be sorted to resolve the problem to allow the right development to come forward but also not to affect the Somerset Levels and Moors."

Councillor Mike Rigby says measures are being put in place to tackle the backlog

Somerset Council says it is using agency staff to work through the backlog and solutions are being sought to deal with the phosphate issues.

Councillor Rigby said: "About 15 years ago lots of the places where people once trained to become planners stopped offering courses. Loads of people then retired."

He added: "We're working on a longer term plan to get more planners in the system."

"It's going to take us probably at least until the end of the year to start making in roads into that pot of planning applications that have sat there for too long," he added.

A decision on the proposals for the industrial units at Sparkford is now due to be decided at the planning south committee's meeting at the end of November.