A councillor responsible for planning in Cornwall has called in an outside organisation in a bid to improve the performance of planning committees.

Graeme Hicks, Cornwall Council cabinet member, said there had been "a number of complaints" about how planning applications were handled. He said they were from the public, a developer and fellow councillors. The Improvement and

Development Agency for Local Government has been asked to offer its advice. Mr Hicks said: "I decided [the complaints] were severe enough to bring in an outside independent organisation to have a look, do a peer review, look at what we're doing wrong and look at the way we can improve the process. "It's really important because it's the public face of the council, and members of the public need to see that decisions are taken properly." Last week Cornwall Council was told to pay up to £200,000 to a developer after the Planning Inspectorate upheld an appeal. Developer Bettercam Ltd applied three years ago to build a motorway-style services area just off the Victoria interchange on the new A30. Bettercam appealed after the former borough council, Restormel, and the current unitary authority failed to make a decision.