Supermarket giants Sainsburys and Tesco want new increases in planning fees to be ring-fenced for improvements to the system.
Sainsburys property director Ian Coull said: “Development control is underfunded by around 35%. We would be happy to pay higher fees, but we would like to see the changes that wed be paying for.”
Tony Eggs, property acquisition director for Tesco, said: “We would like to see the money ring-fenced so that it didnt go into the authorities general pockets. I would be prepared to fund the planning system, but not everything else.”
The government has just passed legislation raising the rate of planning fees by 14%, but ring-fencing, or hypothecation of funds, has so far been fiercely opposed by the government, which believes it will make local authorities inflexible.
Tescos corporate affairs director, Lucy Neville-Rolfe, said that there was also a need for an upper limit on how long a planning application would take.
“We accept that supermarkets should not expect to get permission within the 13-week government target,” she said.
“The government should introduce a 12-month cap on applications, including those called in. Typically it takes 82 weeks for a Tesco superstore application to be processed.”
EGi News 19/04/02
