The government’s chief planner has said the government is proposing to increase planning fees for developers by more than a third in order to up resources to planning departments and tackle the current “strain and stress” on the system.

In an online briefing to local authority planners organised in the wake of the publication of the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill on Wednesday, chief planner Joanna Averley said the government “recognised” the pressure the system was under, while the director of planning at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Simon Gallagher, confirmed the department will go out to consultation on an increase in fees.

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