STROUD District Council has been forced to postpone a vital committee meeting, in which planning applications are assessed, due to IT issues.

The development control committee was scheduled for next Tuesday (July 18) and may have featured some of Stroud district's most contentious planning applications.

One these would have been plans for an Aldi in Stroud.

However these applications will now be discussed in September at the earliest after the summer break.

An SDC spokesman said: "Unfortunately we have had a technical problem with one of our IT systems which has meant that anyone who may have wished to view or comment on planning applications has been unable to do so.

"As consultation is a fundamental part of the planning process we have had to cancel this development control meeting.

"The items will be considered by the committee once the problem has been fixed and people have had time to comment on the applications, although this obviously means a delay.

"We apologise for any inconvenience caused and hope that your readers will understand why we had to cancel the meeting."

The technical difficulties also meant that members of the public could not view specific planning documents such as details of each application, including one for 90 homes in Box Road, Cam.

Councillor Tom Williams, chair of Stroud District Council’s development control committee, said: “We can certainly understand the frustration that many people may feel over the recent delays in deciding the applications - in fact I feel it myself.

"The recent IT failure of the document management system used by planning  was also totally unexpected."