Mr. Kevin Kelly:

The issue of resourcing and dealing with constituencies is something that local authorities are well used to. In any scenario, what we do is that we prioritise the issues and we prioritise the resources.

If we have an SHD in the statutory timeline we will have to make sure we pull the resources from somewhere to deal with it.

In a broader context, we need to ensure we have sufficient resources to support the entire planning system so that all aspects of forward planning, development management and enforcement work together hand in hand. The phraseology used in respect of the role of the elected members recognises that they may be informed by planning staff of factual matters relating to particular planning applications. This information is intended to facilitate councillors who wish to make substantive comments on the planning applications themselves. It is limited to clarification of factual matters in respect of planning applications.