Madam,

Further to the letter titled ‘Planning process is nothing but grief and willy-nilly refusals’, I fully endorse Mr Lewis’ sentiments.

My own dealings with the Snowdonia National Park planners have been and continue to be a total nightmare.

At a time when there is a national shortage of housing, SNP planners are at best obstructive.

They ignore independent ecologists and experts in favour of their own in-house personnel.

I was emailed and asked to take part in the customer satisfaction survey but declined as I had already prepared a file of complaints to take to the Ombudsman, only to be told I first had to register my complaint with the parks authorities.

I paid for a pre-planning assessment and no conflicts were highlighted, so why then did the actual planning application take nine months to be approved, this despite two previous, lapsed, applications already having been approved.

I totally agree that an independent body should audit the planning department and sooner rather than later, so future applications can be dealt with in a professional manner.

They are, as Mr Lewis stated, not fit for purpose and there is definitely a conflict of interest.

Yours etc,

K Jones, Harlech.

Have your say on the local issues affecting you - email [email protected] or join in the conversation on our Facebook page