A report has revealed that less than half of planning applications in Helensburgh and Lomond were processed within 20 working days during the first six months of 2022.
The target figure for Argyll and Bute as a whole has also been missed for the last year.
Helensburgh Central councillor Gary Mulvaney, the authority’s depute leader, admitted there were challenges with recruiting officials: 'Across Scotland, there are simply not enough planners able to apply for these jobs. Every authority is in the same position.
'I have looked to ask if we can share services with another authority, but they are all facing the same challenge.
'Maybe the long term solution is for more people to go through university. In the short term, it is going to be really difficult.
'We have got to sell the opportunity to live in a beautiful part of the world, but it is really frustrating and all of us will have had people saying ‘I put in an application months ago and have not heard a thing’.'
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