WE will not be a soft touch.

That's the message being sent to developers from Eastleigh Council's executive Cabinet in the wake of moves to speed up decisions on planning applications.

The council has been rapped by Whitehall for failing to meet government deadlines and told that things must improve.

Only 67 per cent of all planning applications were determined in eight weeks in 2003-4, compared with the government target of 80 per cent.

For major applications - where the government target is 60 per cent - only 33 per cent were dealt with in the approved timespan.

A package of measures to improve Eastleigh's planning processes and performance is being recommended to this week's full council meeting, which would see more applications delegated to officers to decide on, as well as more regular meetings for the council's five local area committees.

But speaking at the executive Cabinet's meeting Councillor Chris Thomas said: "I am concerned that we are sending a message out to developers that it is now open house at Eastleigh - that is not the case.

"Eastleigh will continue to provide a robust development control process and it is not a charter for developers."

The government has told Eastleigh that it must produce an improvement plan and predict future performance, which will be monitored by the government office for the south-east. The office will also seek explanations for under-performance.

Council leader Keith House claimed a letter from the minister for housing and planning had set out "in stark terms" that the government's interest was in planning speed, not planning quality.

He added: "We have taken the view that it is important to take the right decision on planning applications rather than a quick decision. It is a change of culture that is argued for here and it is a bit against the grain in terms of how we have tried to do things as a borough council."

Council head of development control Colin Peters said: "I believe the council has always been right in promoting quality over speed."