A programme to improve the council's planning function is making good progress according to a peer review team.
The peer review team revisited Thurrock Council in late January after carrying out a review of planning in Thurrock in late 2023. They were looking into what progress had been made based on recommendations they made following their review.
They said that good progress had been made across all 11 recommendations they had made in their original Planning Peer Challenge report, highlighting that in several areas improvements have gone “above and beyond” their recommendations.
The peer review team have said that there are still challenges for planning including increasing the supply of local housing, delivering the borough’s Local Plan and continuing to build on the successes already made to improve the confidence of stakeholders they work with.
Cllr Lee Watson, Cabinet member for Good Growth, said: “It is fantastic to get acknowledgement that the council planning function is making and we have taken the advice received to heart and put tangible measures in place to make real and visible improvements in planning.
“Although the review team say there is still work to do they have been highly complimentary about the improvements that have taken place as say that both the planning team and the members who sit on the planning committee should take confidence from what they have achieved already to build on for the future.”