Concerns have been raised with the Auditor General for Wales over Powys County Council’s Planning Committee members not conducting enough site visits before deciding on planning applications.

On Friday, June 5, Montgomeryshire Conservative MS Russell George met with Auditor General Adrian Crompton and a team from Audit Wales to discuss a range of issues regarding the council’s planning service.

In April, Mr George wrote to Mr Crompton highlighting ongoing serious concerns about the planning service’s performance.

This comes in the wake of two Audit Wales reports on Powys County Council’s planning service published over the past two years.

Following the meeting, Mr George said: “The auditor general took on board my concerns and examples provided and will use what I outlined as part of a wider piece of work Audit Wales are undertaking around the governance and leadership of the council.”

Mr Russell explained they reviewed several key points from the meeting agenda and discussed examples of planning issues he has encountered.

Mr Russell said: “We did spend some time on examples around missing and inaccurate information in reports going to committee.

“I also made the point on the lack of site visits by committee.”

Last month, the council’s Governance and Audit Committee also showed interest in Mr George’s concerns. Chairwoman and lay member Lynne Hamilton said she expects an update “in due course.”

Audit Wales published a critical report in May 2023, with several recommendations to improve the planning service. In response, the council set up an internal board to oversee changes.

A follow-up report in November said Powys planners had “responded quickly” and “implemented the 2023 recommendations in full.”

However, Mr George believes the review fell short of a “comprehensive examination.” He said it failed to assess the department’s overall performance or how individual planning applications were handled.