SOME OF THE criticism the Town and Country Development Planning Office has been receiving is undeserved.
That’s the view of acting Chief Town Planner George Browne, who said despite some issues, including challenges with the electronic submissions process, the government department had improved the processing of applications.
He was speaking this morning at the start of a Town Planning – Facilitating Business seminar at the Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry Conference (BCCI) room. The event was organized by the BCCI and the planning office.
Browne disputed what he said was a recent media report suggesting that his organisation was taking 277 days to process applications, something that was purportedly helping to delay Barbados’ economic recovery.
He produced figures showing that between April and June this year 86 per cent of applications were processed in less than 90 days, compared to 63 per cent processed within 120 days between April last year and March this year, and 67 per cent processed in the 2012/2013 financial year. (SC)