A special compliment was paid by the President of the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI), Mike Hayes, last week when he decided to visit Merton Council’s planning team out of 33 London boroughs.

The RTPI influences the development of planning policy at regional, national, European and international level. Merton’s planning team, rated as ‘the best performing planning team’ by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, were selected for a morning visit to find out more about how they deal with planning issues.

Mike Hayes was greeted by Councillor Philip Jones, Chair of Merton Council’s Planning Committee, and Steve Clark, Merton’s Head of Planning and Public Protection. During his visit he met the planning team and saw some examples of recently approved developments such as the Plough Lane site, which includes a number of ‘green’ measures.

President of the RTPI, Mike Hayes, said: “I have been really impressed with the energy, enthusiasm and commitment that Merton’s planning team is putting in to delivering a really good service.

“They have improved development control performance and are getting to grips with the new planning act – and they seem to have fun as well.”

For more information on planning issues call 020 8545 3238 or visit http://www.merton.gov.uk/planning/

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