The Dunedin City Council is blaming staff turnover, a new computer system, and an upsurge in applications for a backlog in processing resource consents.
Just over half of the consents processed last month were within the allowed period but council resource consents manager Alan Worthington said staffing problems had been solved and there should be "rapid improvement" in the next two months.
The backlog has plagued the council for more than a year.
He is confident the council would return to being one of the fastest in the country for issuing consents.
Statistics provided by the council showed it started to drop from a near-100% record of meeting deadlines in the middle of 2006.
Some months, the council has failed to process even half of consents received.
The lowest rate was in June last year, when just 41% of consents were issued on time.
A non-notified consent should be issued within 20 working days from the council receiving it, while a notified consent should be issued within 70 working days.
Last year, with 1345 consents lodged, was the highest number of consents lodged with the council, Mr Worthington said.
To April this year, 389 consents had been lodged.
In March this year, 21% of non-notified applications had to wait for more than 30 days for a consent to be issued, while that improved to 19% last month.
Mr Worthington said that in March 2007 a new computer system was installed in the planning department, and that had a huge impact on the time taken to process consents.
"I don't think anyone realised how much of an impact it would have on us," Mr Worthington said.
"That coincided with a loss of staff.
A lot of those staff had a high degree of skill and knowledge, and that can not be easily replaced."
Mr Worthington said five planners, out of nine, had left in the past year, and although all had been replaced, it took time for people to learn the council's district plan.
He said the computer system was not a waste of money, and was proving worthwhile.
The computer system required a new way of thinking by staff, which had taken time.
There was a national shortage of planners, so staff were not easy to find.
Council staff told consent applicants they would try and issue the consent within the allocated period but made no promises.
It was a national problem.
Mr Worthington said Auckland City Council planning staff were telling applicants to wait 40 working days for a decision.
Most people understood the problem, he said, and were willing to wait.
There had been few complaints.
The Dunedin City Council had historically been one of the best in the country for processing consents within the allotted timeframe.
"Everyone is disappointed we have dropped but we are determined to get back up there."
