Council's planners receive Charter Mark recognition

Date:  26 July 2006

The Development Control team at Three Rivers District Council are celebrating after being awarded the prestigious Charter Mark status for excellent customer service.

Having Charter Mark means that local residents can expect a high standard of service from the busy team, which is responsible for planning in the district and deals with all aspects of planning applications, appeals, and enforcement.  It means that the team has proved it has excellent standards in its work with local residents and developers.

In 2005/6, the team dealt with over 1,200 planning applications - an average of 100 per month. Applications can range from residents wishing to build an extension on their homes to major applications for a supermarket, or Conservation Area Consent which restricts development in an entire area to help protect and preserve its character. 

Services provided by the team include free informal advice to residents on applying for planning permission; processing of all planning applications; carrying out consultations with local residents on applications in their area; investigating breaches of planning regulations and taking enforcement action where necessary; and defending decisions to refuse permission when they are appealed against.  The team also makes professional recommendations to the Council's Development Control Committee, which considers certain planning applications in public meetings.

Among the assessor's comments were:

"There was praise from customers and partners for the helpfulness and responsiveness of planning staff?that sensible and imaginative use had been made of new technology to improve service to customers?recent improvements in performance and the obvious appreciation of some key service users."

Chief Development Control Officer Geof Muggeridge said: 

"I am delighted that the hard work and customer focus of the team has been recognised in this way.  We work to tight Government deadlines and we are very aware that not everyone will always agree with planning decisions that are made, but we always make sure that decisions are clear and thorough, and we consult widely with local residents and others.  The award of Charter Mark is a significant achievement and one we aim to build on for the future."

Recent innovations have included making all planning applications available to view on the Council's website, and enabling planning applications themselves to be submitted online.  Visit the Planning Information page to find out more. 

The Council's Building Control and Environmental Health teams also hold Charter Marks for customer services - the Building Control team was among the first in the country to achieve four consecutive Charter Marks.  The Council is also now working towards achieving Charter Mark status for the whole Council.