NORTH Ayrshire Council’s planning team is continuing to set the benchmark for authorities across Scotland.

A new report has revealed that it continues to provide one of the quickest, most efficient planning services in Scotland when it comes to processing and making decisionson planning applications.

All 32 Scottish local authorities are asked to produce a Planning Performance Framework (PPF) each year, monit or ing themselves against key performanceindicators.

The PPF showed that North Ayrshire Council’s planning team has managed a further reduction in average timescales for determining householder applications, from 4.7 weeks to 4.3 weeks – well within the statutory timescale of eight weeks.

Timescales for non-householder applications remained at 5.9 weeks while major planning applications are dealt with in 10.2 weeks on average.

Councillor Tom Marshall, Chair of North Ayrshire Council’s Planning Committee, said the report highlighted the outstanding performance of the North Ayrshire Planning team.

He said: “Our planning team deserves huge praise for consistently providing a service which is sector-leading in Scotland.

“This isn’t just a one-off - year after year, the results show that they provide an efficient, effective and innovative service which compares favourably with anywhere else.

“While t he planning process can sometimes be complex, the team continues to make great strides in offering a professional service which works for both ordinary householders who wish to make changes to their home and large companies who have submitted proposals for major developments.”

Looking ahead, the planning team will play a key role in delivering the Ayrshire Growth Deal, which was signed earlier this year and will see a multi-million pound investment.