A GRANT of almost £500,000 has been awarded to a North-East council for improvements made by its planning department.
The Government has awarded the planning delivery grant of £475,778 to Durham City Council, an increase of more than £300,000 on last year's figure.
The authority's planning services now deals with two-thirds of all major planning applications within 13 weeks and more than 86 per cent of minor planning applications within eight weeks.
The authority is now planning further improvements.
Councillor Carol Woods, the council's finance portfolio holder, said: "This shows the excellent service provided by our planning services has been recognised."
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