A LOCAL planning agent says that the deadline for dealing with applications is much tighter than the figures quoted at a recent Dorset Council meeting.

Planning portfolio holder Cllr David Walsh said that a reduction from 26 to 16 weeks for applications would put increased pressure on the council's planning team.

The local agent says the 16-week figures relates only to the point where the council has to pay back the planning fee if the application has not been dealt with.

He said that under the Town and Country Planning Order of 2015 the council has to give the applicant notice of their decision within 13 weeks for a major application and eight weeks for other applications.

The time frame starts the day after the application has been received.

The agent told the BBC Local Democracy Reporting Service: "What Cllr Walsh is referring to is completely different. They are the deadlines which if breached would mean the planning authority paying back an application fee…

The problems cannot all be blamed on a national shortage of planning officers. There are many bodies and interest groups being consulted on almost all applications. Many of those do not respond as quickly as they should and they are given far too much leeway.

"There have been signs of improvement but I fear this is only because the number of applications have declined over the last two years."