WAVERLEY'S planning department has blamed its failure to meet government targets on office disruption and a desperate shortage of staff.
The council was recently found to process just over half of all planning applications within eight weeks. The government target is to deal with 70 per cent of all applications within this time.
Officers from the planning department reported to Waverley's decision-making executive that delays in processing applications were being caused by several factors including the installation of a new computer system.
Director of planning and development Stephen Thwaites said at the executive meeting last week: "Installation of the new computer system will make things more difficult for the planning department during the next month or so but the long term benefits will help officers and will improve the service we provide the public."
The performance of the planning department is one of the key factors that the government uses to monitor the overall performance of the council and Mr Thwaites added that every effort will be made to improve Waverley's record.
In December Waverley announced that it would increase its staffing budget by approximately £27,000 to pay for two new members of staff to be taken on.
But Mr Thwaites has since reported that there has been a problem with filling these vacancies.
"The high cost of living in this part of the country has made it more difficult for us to find people willing to take up these posts," Mr Thwaites stated.