AN EARTHCOTT Green man is locked in a bureaucratic wrangle with council chiefs over the handling of planning applications submitted by a woodland cemetery near his home.

Businessman John Black was so furious about the way planners dealt with an application to hold weddings at the Woodlands Memorial Cemetery that he lodged a formal complaint to South Gloucestershire Council.

His protests were initially rejected but a council complaints panel subsequently identified failures by officers and councillors and made nine recommendations to ensure they were not repeated.

Mr Black went on to protest about another planning consent granted to the cemetery - this time for an extension to accommodate Jewish funerals. He is now embroiled in a second battle to force the council to own up to yet more alleged shortcomings.

"What really annoys and depresses is that lessons have still not been learned in the planning department," said Mr Black, whose complaints are based largely on policy inconsistencies in respect of traffic issues and failure to act on alleged breaches of planning conditions.

"The first time round it took more than seven months for the council to reach its conclusions, forcing us to spend a vast amount of time and effort researching and analysing and trying to get officers to accept that mistakes had been made.

"Now the second complaint - with many similarities to the first one - has also been rejected and it looks like we shall be going through the whole drawn-out process all over again, wasting more time and taxpayers' money."

Mr Black, who claims to have the backing of neighbouring residents, said he was now considering making a claim for financial compensation from the council.

"We have nothing against the cemetery itself or its management - merely the way the council has dealt with these planning applications," he said.

"Two consents have now been granted and if the council had stuck to its own policies then they shouldn't have been.

"There is no right of appeal for third parties. But we're seeking justice and a formal complaint is the closest we can get."

South Gloucestershire Council spokesman Matthew Rees said: "A complaint has been received and is going through the formal complaints procedure.

"It has been investigated by a senior officer at the council and a report has now been sent to Mr Black who has 28 days to comment."