Pembrokeshire’s planning department had a mixed report in the latest performance review published by Welsh Government.

Some areas of the local authority’s planning functions were considered good while in others they came bottom of the pile.

The fifth annual planning performance review was published last week and Welsh Government examined figures for 2018-19 and compared them to previous years, for all authorities.

It highlighted that several planning authorities had “reported that under-resourcing in staff is leading to adverse service outcomes.”

This includes Pembrokeshire along with Brecon Beacons National Park, Caerphilly, Conwy, Gwynedd, Isle of Anglesey, and Wrexham Councils.

The report adds: “Long-term reductions in staff numbers have given rise to identified single points of failure on service performance, for example on major applications (Pembrokeshire CC and Merthyr Tydfil CBC).

Pembrokeshire had 36 per cent of major applications dealt within the time frame, seven late, one with an extension and three within the 8 to 16 weeks.

But it more positively it was the third best performing when it comes to standard applications being dealt with within time frames with an average of 58.8 days an application, under the Welsh average of 80.7 days.

This shows an improvement over the six year measuring period as the local authority moves from “amber” fair rating with an average of 68.9 days per application.

Pembrokeshire comes bottom with an average of 24.1 per cent of listed building consents dealt with in the specified time frame in 2018-19, compared to the Welsh average of 74.7 per cent.

It is one of seven authorities that has delegated authority from Cadw to determine listed building applications for Grade II listed buildings themselves.

It remains bottom over six years with 16.6 per cent meeting time frames.

When it comes to determining applications in accordance with the relevant development plan, which the Welsh Government state should led to relatively infrequent occurrences of determining contrary to them, Pembrokeshire performed well.

It was in the top green category with six others with none of its decisions going against recommendations last year and remains in the green with 3.4 per cent.

Just over half – 53 per cent – of alleged breaches of planning control were investigated within a “reasonable time frame,” with the target being 84 days, or 12 weeks, and then 249 days to take positive action, with the welsh average 184.6 days.

Clr. Jon Harvey, cabinet member for planning, said: “The Welsh Government Annual Planning Performance Report relates to the financial year 2018-19 and this covers a period during which Pembrokeshire County Council experienced a reduction in staff resource generally and Senior Planning staff in particular.

“Whilst the Authority’s performance for determining major applications ‘on time’ was below the average for Wales, the figure represented an improvement when compared against its average performance in determining major applications over six years.

“Furthermore, the Authority’s performance in relation to the average time in days to determine major applications placed it 10th in Wales. The Authority seeks to negotiate with developers in relation to major applications, in order to avoid refusals on technical grounds, and the low percentage determined ‘on time’ reflects the low use of agreed extensions of time.

“The performance against the indicator for determining listed building applications ‘on time’ (24.1 per cent) has shown improvement against the Authority’s average performance over six years (16.6 per cent).

“In response to this performance, changes have been made to the process for determining listed building applications which aim to improve performance.

“The reduction in staff resource has impacted on the planning officer input into dealing with investigations but the average time taken to resolve enforcement cases is improving.”

Clr. Harvey added that he would continue to work with Officers on improving performance throughout the service.