The Town and Country Planning Department made a concerted effort last year to spread the word about why its work is important, 
and the effort seems to have worked, according to the department’s annual report for 2011, which was released at the last House of Assembly sitting July 24.
In the report, Chief Planner Marva Titley-Smith listed several of the department’s efforts to increase public awareness, including staff workshops on customer perspective, participation in local career fairs, and joining larger events like World Town Planning Day and Geographic Information Systems Day.
The report also shows some signs that those efforts may have paid off. For example, the department had to refuse only 16 of 463 planning applications in 2011, compared with 39 of 771 in 2010 and 33 of 571 in 2009.
Of 38 compliance notices issued last year, three included stop orders for work taking place. 2011 was also a historic year for the department because of the completion of a legal battle that had gone back “several years,” the report states.
See the Aug. 23, 2012 edition for full coverage.
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