Swan Hill Rural City Council is urging residents to be patient with its Planning Department, as they face severe staff shortages.
Council's Director Development and Planning, Heather Green said a 2022 Council Workforce Skills and Capability Survey (VIC) reported that 97.5% Councils were experiencing skills shortages.
"Job vacancies, skills shortages and skills gaps are currently impacting our municipality, creating delays and longer response times.
"Despite extensive recruitment, our Planning Department is being impacted by staff shortages - we are actively working to address this," she said.
Ms Green said the community could assist in streamlining the Planning Application process during the application preparation stage.
"I urge residents that are seeking to submit a Planning Application to seek professional advice from qualified planners, to ensure that they are well prepared to accurately complete their application.
"Council will continue to work through difficulties associated with its staff shortages and we urge the community to be patient with all businesses as these shortages are being felt broadly," Ms Green said.
