Charnwood Borough Council - Leading in Leicestershire

A PERFORMANCE-related grant worth more than £400,000 has been awarded to Charnwood Borough Council’s planning directorate by the Government.

The Department for Communities and Local Government has announced that Charnwood will receive a Housing and Planning Delivery Grant worth almost £414,000.

Cllr Hilary Fryer, Charnwood’s Cabinet member for Planning and Development, welcomed the announcement which puts the Council in the top 25% of performers in the country.

The grant rewards local authorities for their performance in plan making, ensuring an adequate supply of land for new housing, and facilitating the delivery of new homes on the ground over the period April 2007 to March 2008.

Cllr Fryer said: "This is terrific news. This award ranks us 79th among the 400 authorities in the country placing us well within the top 25% of performers.

“It is testament to a great deal of hard work in identifying suitable sites for new homes and supporting the house builders in delivering new apartments and houses where they are needed, including elements of "affordable housing" for those who cannot aspire to home ownership."

The criteria for the award of the grant have been recast this year to give greater emphasis to the delivery of new homes.

Under the previous Planning Delivery Grant regime, the Council has secured around £1.4million in performance-related grant awards over the past five years.

That money has been ploughed back into service improvements, delivering faster handling of planning applications, internet access to enable customers to view and monitor the progress of applications on line and access a wide range of planning information on the Council's web site.

The additional resources have also been used to fund an ambitious programme to equip Town and Parish Councils throughout the Borough with laptop computers and digital projection equipment to aid their engagement in the planning process - an innovative scheme which is attracting widespread interest among authorities across the country.

David Hankin, Charnwood's Director of Development, said, "We are immensely pleased with the award and by the improvements in the outcomes of the service which it represents.

“We will be looking to invest the grant wisely to build upon the successes achieved to date in order to extend the benefits to our customers and stakeholders and improve our services to secure the best possible rewards over the projected four year life span of the new grant regime."