The rises are designed to make up the shortfall in cash that the Planning and Building Services Department is facing under States budget constraints.
The higher fees are expected to add another £210,000 to the department’s proposed 2004 Budget income of £1.3 million.Unlike the rises of February this year, the next round will be capped at 16.4 per cent, with some building control fees rising by less or not at all.The latest raft of increases was predicted this time last year when the States approved across the board rises in the user-pays planning charges approved in 1994.
Planning argued that the new structure was necessary if the department was to continue delivering and improving its core services.Planning director Peter Thorne said: ‘We don’t want to do it but we felt it would not have been appropriate to cut services so soon after introducing user-pays which seeks to improve them.
We had no choice but to increase the costs to the user.’From January, application fees for flats will rise from £180 to £210 per unit, for a house from £360 to £420 and for a glasshouse/polythene tunnel from £120 to £140.
A change of use application will rise from £180 to £210.
