PLANNING bosses in the borough are getting slower - but they're still sharper than many others elsewhere in the country.

That's the conclusion from a new set of league tables on how quickly councils decide planning applications.

The Government's figures say that Bury has come 17th out of England's 36 metropolitan councils.

Bury made 1,029 decisions during the year to March 1999 and judged 63.2 per cent of them within eight weeks. This is down from 64.4 per cent last year, but still puts Bury ahead of the national average of 62 per cent. It is also third best of the ten Greater Manchester councils.

The council made 323 decisions on commercial and industrial applications, deciding 49.8 per cent within eight weeks. Although this is up from 47.6 per cent previously, it is only 19th best in the league.

The best performing of the 36 metropolitan councils was Gateshead which judged 87.5 per cent of applications within eight weeks. The worst was North Tyneside, with 35.1 per cent.

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