CONSERVATION and planning departments at St Albans District Council are to merge in a bid to speed up the planning process and cut costs by £150,000. The conservation department will lose three of its six posts and those three officers will be transferred

CONSERVATION and planning departments at St Albans District Council are to merge in a bid to speed up the planning process and cut costs by £150,000.

The conservation department will lose three of its six posts and those three officers will be transferred to vacant posts in the planning department.

Planning portfolio holder Cllr Chris Brazier explained that the three remaining conservation officers would deal with more detailed planning applications in the Conservation Area, and the three to be transferred would work on less-complicated conservation issues and general planning applications.

He that it would be a better use of time and resources because only one report would need to be made for applications in Conservation Areas instead of the current three.

Cllr Brazier said the changes were proposed by the Government in order to speed up the planning process.

But district councillor and prospective Labour Parliamentary candidate Roma Mills said that something had to be lost for £150,000 to be saved and questioned how the reduction was being made.