SOUTH East Cornwall MP Colin Breed is requesting the government to investigate the planning department of Caradon District Council. Mr Breed has written to David Miliband, the newly appointed Minister for Communities and Local Government, asking him to carry out an investigation into the performance of the department. Mr Breed said: ?I have become increasingly concerned over the last couple of years at the performance of the planning department, having had a growing number of complaints, many of which have been referred to the local government ombudsman. ?I do not take this step lightly but I believe that an independent assessment is required as well as an opportunity for local people to express their own experiences, which I am sure will be welcomed.? The MP said the complaints varied from concerns over the way planning applications had been dealt with to the way people had been treated in seeking advice and the quality of advice given. Caradon?s chief executive Bryon Davies said recent information from the local government ombudsman indicated that while in urban areas housing matters tended to be the major area of complaint, in rural areas it was planning issues that dominated. ?Interestingly, of the 22 decisions made by the ombudsman in respect of Caradon?s development control service in 2004/5 there were no findings of maladministration,? he said.
