A SPRINKLING of significant facts deserves to be added to your recent report on the rate at which Ryedale District Council is losing planning appeals.

Over the last quarter there has been a blip in decisions going against the authority - a dozen of them, which we all feel is 12 too many.

Having said that, the figure is a tiny proportion of the huge number of applications successfully dealt with by the planning committee.

Over the past year, which didn't get a mention, the council has won more appeals than it has lost - well over 60 per cent of them.

And over the past decade, out of about 10,000 applications handled by the authority, only four have resulted in costs being awarded against the council. One of those awards, which has only just been reported, related to a decision made more than 18 months ago.

Any appeal decision that goes against the council, particularly with costs, is a concern and is subject to intense investigation to avoid similar pitfalls in future.

It is also impossible on planning decisions to please all of the people, all of the time. Victory for an applicant often means defeat for objectors.

The same happens in reverse.

Set against that backdrop, the planning committee has a massively successful record in promoting developments that protect and improve the gem that is Ryedale.

Councillor Howard Keal,

Chairman of planning,

Ryedale District Council,

St Nicholas Street,

Norton, Malton.

Updated: 10:11 Tuesday, January 03, 2006