People who have been in touch with a city planning department are being asked what they think of the way they were treated.

About 1,600 applicants and agents who dealt with the office at Brighton and Hove City Council between April and September last year will be sent questionnaires this month.

They will be asked about their experiences with planning applications ranging from loft extension to multi-million pound developments.

Results of the customer survey will be sent to the Government in May to add to the national planning statistics.

Two years ago, Brighton and Hove was one of the slowest planning authorities in England but figures have shown a big improvement since then.

Latest figures show that in December last year, 60 per cent of major applications were decided within 13 weeks, ten per cent above target.

Sixty-eight per cent of minor applications were decided within eight weeks, 13 per cent ahead of target, while 84 per cent of other applications were decided within eight weeks, well ahead of the 70 per cent target.

Tuesday January 13, 2004