A building boom in the Queenstown Lakes district is pushing up consent processing times, but the council hopes new planning staff will get it ''back on track''.
Queenstown Lakes District Council received 163 building consent applications in October - a record for the month and up 30% from the 125 received last October.
But only 81% of the applications were issued within the statutory time frame, down from 99% a year earlier.
The council also received 94 resource consent applications in October - up 10 on the previous month.
However, only 87% of resource consents were issued within the statutory time frame last month, down from 100% a year earlier.
Planning and development portfolio leader Cr Cath Gilmour said the council had taken on three new planning staff, and the recruitment team was ''trying their damnedest'' to find more amidst a national shortage.
A building services manager and two building control officers had been employed in the past month, while a senior building manager was on secondment from the Auckland City Council.
She hoped consent processing times would now begin coming down.
''I think we will get back on track but I don't think we're quite there yet.''
The council's new building services manager is Stewart Geddes. Mr Geddes, who took up the role a fortnight ago, was previously a senior building control officer for the council in Wanaka.
