Somerset councillors have delivered a damning verdict on the state of the Lib-Dem Council’s planning system, warning that persistent delays, underfunding, and lack of political leadership are holding the service back.
At a recent committee meeting, Councillor Martin Wale, representing Chard North, described the planning service as a 'Cinderella service' that has been neglected since the creation of Somerset Council. While the Council continues to meet national targets by using extensions of time, he questioned whether this was coming at the expense of the wider service.
“Are we sacrificing other parts of the service just to meet these national targets? Because the failures elsewhere are quite extreme,” Cllr Wale said.
“Planning is a statutory service of this Council and one of the few income-generating ones—yet it doesn’t seem to be even properly funded. I think we’ve failed, frankly, to bring the system together post-vesting day.”
He urged the committee to press the Executive to ensure the planning service is “correctly budgeted for” and no longer left to “soldier on”.
Councillor Phillip Ham, representing Mendip Central & East, supported the call, highlighting how a lack of communication and mounting delays are affecting real people and businesses across Somerset.
“There’s a problem because we get the same sort of situations every meeting… delays and a lack of communication,” he said.
“It’s not the fact that planning applications have been refused or approved—it’s the fact the applicant doesn’t know. In some cases, marriages are on the line, businesses are on the line.”
He also cited a specific planning applications that had been waiting 22 to 24 weeks for a decision.
In response, officers acknowledged the service is under significant pressure. While national targets are currently being met through extensions of time agreed with applicants, staffing levels remain lower than before the transition to a unitary authority. Recruitment difficulties, particularly for specialist roles, were linked to uncompetitive pay, and a business case has been submitted to improve salaries, though no decision has yet been made.
Pressure is mounting on the Liberal Democrat administration at Somerset Council to get a grip of the Planning service.
