Delays in planning are holding up the installation of new play equipment on the Duchy site in Dorchester – according to town mayor Richard Biggs.

The Poundbury ward councillor says the Duchy submitted a planning application for new equipment 12 weeks ago, but it has yet to be registered and will then need to remain open for comments for several weeks before a decision can even be considered.

"These delays are frustrating for people trying to do things – if we miss this window it could be too late and it could be another year before anything is installed," he told a town council meeting on Monday evening.

Dorset Council has already warned of delays in the planning system as it transfers years of data to a new IT platform and re-trains staff to use it. The west and north areas have already been transferred with work currently underway on Weymouth and Portland.

Dorset Council says that, where appropriate, additional time for public comment will be allowed on applications.

In addition the council is short of planning officers and in the recent days has advertised a number of posts.

A statement from Dorset Council said: "We have continued making around 100 planning decisions a week throughout the pandemic, including householder applications, larger scale schemes, and confirming that conditions have been met. This is with most employees working at home and with virtual planning committees. Any site visits have had to be conducted in a Covid secure way.

"Nationally planning is incredibly busy, fuelled by the recently extended stamp duty holiday, organisations are rethinking their business models and people are spending more time in their homes and making the most of what they have.

"We understand that it is frustrating for our customers but we have recently received a 30 per cent increase in applications compared to last year, and we are working through these.

"The planning convergence and transformation project is going to plan and we will have all the Dorset Council area on one system in the next few months. This means that everyone involved in the planning process will be working on one system. This will increase our efficiency.

"The second part of the project will be to transform the system to become customer friendly."