Bristol’s economy is being badly affected because the planning department at City Hall has 'effectively ground to halt', businesses and residents have been warned.
Businesses, charities and residents are experiencing at least four months of backlogs to even be assigned a planning officer at Bristol City Council, and the Mayor of Bristol has said the issues are the unseen consequences of more than a decade of Government cuts to local authority finances.
One well-known Bristol charity had warned it will start losing £5,000 a month on a new shop it was unable to open because a planning application for a new shopfront was still in the in-tray at City Hall - and it was only when its boss appealed directly to the Mayor to intervene was the planning permission awarded the very same day.
