The Acting Head of Planning Services has submitted a report to seek agreement for the implementation of an administration fee for those invalid applications returned to the applicant.

Recommendation:That the City Executive Board resolves to:

1.         Approve the implementation of an administration fee for processing invalid applications that are returned to the applicant; and

2.         Delegate to the Acting Head of Planning Services the authority to set the level of administration charge and time limit by which the charge should be sought for the respective invalid applications.

The Acting Head of Planning Services had submitted a report to seek agreement for the implementation of an administration fee for those invalid applications returned to the applicant.

The Board Member for Planning and Transport said that nearly half of planning applications submitted for the first time were incomplete and therefore invalid.  The proposal was intended to discourage submission of incomplete plans (notably from planning agents and architects) and to recover the costs of processing invalid applications. The Council would hope not to have to apply the fee and its introduction should lessen the number of invalid applications.

The Acting Head of Planning Services said the measure was part of a larger and  ongoing programme of  performance improvement for the Planning Service. This included, among other things,   improving communication with users of the service, through, for example, an enhanced web presence.

The City Executive Board resolved to:

1.         Approve the implementation of an administration fee for processing invalid applications that are returned to the applicant; and

2.         Delegate to the Acting Head of Planning Services the authority to set the level of administration charge and time limit by which the charge should be sought for the respective invalid applications.