Home Local News Premier League performance by St Helens planners

Premier League performance by St Helens planners

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New figures have confirmed that St Helens Council planners are among the quickest in the country when it comes to dealing with applications.

Data released by the Department of Communities and Local Government reveals that for major applications the borough was placed joint 20th out of 338 local authorities for the period between January and March 2015.

For smaller projects the council’s performance was even better – with St Helens planners climbing to fourth place in the national league.

St Helens Council’s Cabinet Member for Employment, Planning and Growth, Councillor John Fulham said: “Planning can be a time consuming process, so I’m pleased these new figures reflect our ‘can do’ attitude when it comes to planning and inward investment. We’re one of the few authorities to provide free pre-application advice to developers working on major, complex projects.

“Along with our policy of engaging with developers early on in the application process – and building a good working relationship – it’s helped to put us in the local authority Premier League when it comes to speeding up new development, which is crucial to building fresh prosperity in the borough.”

The DCLG’s performance monitoring survey gauges the speed and efficiency with which applications are handled by council planning departments.

The figures also confirm that turnaround times in St Helens are the quickest of any authority in the Liverpool City Region – well ahead of second placed Knowsley.

Councillor Fulham added: “While we’re delighted with the latest DCLG figures, we aim for continuous improvement – and welcome every opportunity or suggestion to boost development and inward investment for the borough.”

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