Planning applications to cost ‘significantly’ more

Friday 7th September 2007, 12:00AM BST.

DEVELOPERS may have to pay more for planning applications so that the Planning Department can employ more staff.

Environment Minister Freddie Cohen wants to ‘significantly’ increase fees for commercial applications, such as office blocks, to enable him to take on more planning officers. He says that his department is struggling to process applications in good time and desperately needs more staff. ‘We are significantly understaffed. It’s a real struggle,’ he said. ‘We are slow in determining applications and the system needs improvement, and the only way is to get more staff. We just don’t have enough people. ‘I will be asking the States to raise fees on commercial applications significantly – and we’re not talking about 10% or 20% – it will be a significant increase.’ Increased costs would not affect individuals lodging applications but could hit developers building offices in St Helier hard.

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