Housebuilders fear that large developments could be further delayed by planning backlogs following suggestions that October would be the earliest date planners could be assigned to public inquiries. The Planning Inspectorate is launching a planner recruitment drive in a bid to tackle the growing problem, which some suggest is attributable to the increased rate of refusals by local authorities keen to meet the government’s 13-week targets. <p></p><p>Spencer McCarthy, chairman and group managing director of Churchill Retirement Living said: "We put in an appeal for a site in Tunbridge Wells about six weeks ago, we hadn’t heard anything so rang the Planning Inspectorate and spoke to the chart room. They told us they weren’t giving any dates until October." </p><p>McCarthy added that this is only the start of the problem. "At the moment public inquiries are taking 14 months to come through so that will be 19 in total if we get a date in October. That is ridiculous," he said. "Planning fees were increased to retain planners, but it’s not happening." </p><p>A spokesperson for the Planning Inspectorate denied the reports: "It is incorrect to claim that PINS are refusing to set inquiry dates until October 2005 – these are being …