Planning Enforcement
Planning enforcement is a discretionary power given to Local Planning Authorities to take action against breaches of planning control when it is regarded as “expedient” to do so and in the public interest.
A breach of planning control is defined in Section 171A of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 as:
a) carrying out development without the required planning permission, or
b) failing to comply with a condition or limitation subject to which planning permission has been granted
Development is defined in Section 55 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 as “the carrying out of building, engineering, mining or other operations in, on, over or under land, or the making of any material change in the use of any buildings or other land”.
The Council’s approach to planning enforcement is set out in its adopted Planning Enforcement Policy. Any enforcement action has to accord with national policy and guidance. The Planning Enforcement Policy can be viewed in the Linked Documents box to the right of this page.
Complaints can be made by email, telephone, in writing, or in person and are treated as confidential. Complaints can be submitted using the form in the Related Links box to the right of this page.
For more information see Advice Note 8: Enforcement using the link in the Linked Documents box to the right of this page.
If someone makes a complaint about your property, you may be contacted by a member of the Planning Enforcement Team. You should provide as much information as possible to enable the Officer to decide whether or not there is a breach of planning control. A meeting on site is often the best way to do this, although it may be possible by a phone call or letter. Prompt responses to correspondence will help to speed up the process and you should make every effort to meet deadlines for any remedial action. The Case Officer will visit to ensure that actions have been completed satisfactorily. If for any reason a deadline can’t be met you should contact the Case Officer to agree what will be done.