Recession hits as Poole planning applications drop by more than 25 per cent (From Thisisdorset)

Recession hits as Poole planning applications drop by more than 25 per cent

6:20pm Sunday 26th July 2009

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THE recession has led to a huge drop in the number of planning applications submitted in Poole.

Numbers have dropped by more than a quarter and income has been slashed by more than £400,000.

The number of applications received by Poole planners between January and March was 374, down around 29 per cent on the equivalent quarter last year.

This was higher than the decrease nationally of 26 per cent, however Poole’s figure was slightly up on the number received by planners during October to December, which stood at 369.

And the number of applications determined was also down, by 37 per cent, with 298 decided compared to 478 in 2008.

“Fee income remains a concern as the economy slips deeper into recession and the number of major applications coming forward remains very low,” said Stephen Thorne, Borough of Poole’s head of planning in his quarterly report to the planning committee.

The final fee income for 2008/9 was a total of £785,718, against an original budget of £1,200,610 – a deficit of £414,892.

“The reason for falling income is the reduction in new applications for major development, which are the high income earners,” said Mr Thorne.

“This has led to a 30 per cent reduction in workload, but with income down by 60 per cent we have taken measures to manage our resource for this financial year.

“This includes deleting one planning officer post and freezing two others,” he said.

The number of planning appeals lodged was around 17 per cent down on the equivalent quarter last year. The borough’s success rate for defending appeals was 75 per cent during 2008/9 against a national average of 66 per cent.

Poole defended 107 planning appeals during the financial year and only 44 local authorities deal with higher numbers.

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