what action can you take if in receipt of an enforcement notice?

Someone in contravention of planning regulations will hopefully comply with the terms of any enforcement action. Where this has to be done within a given timescale, the Council will check to see that it has been completed by the right time. If it hasn't, further action may include prosecution or an injunction. In extreme cases, the Council could take direct action such as the removal of buildings.

You are entitled to appeal. This must be done before the notice comes into effect which must be at least 28 days after it has been served. If several people are served with a notice, only one person need appeal in order that the notice is challenged.

An appeal can be made on some or all of the following grounds:

that planning permission should be granted for the alleged development;
the development does not require permission;
there has not been a breach of planning control;
it was too late to take enforcement action;
the steps required by the enforcement notice go beyond what is necessary to overcome the objections; and
the time given to comply with the notice is too short.

Appeals are dealt with in a similar way to those for planning appeals.

Once the appeal has been submitted, this suspends the terms of the notice. An appeal may take anything up to a year to resolve in more complex cases.

If the appeal is successful, the matters referred to in the notice become lawful. No further action can be taken. If the appeal is unsuccessful, the period for compliance starts from the date of the inspector's decision letter. In some cases, this could amount to anything up to a further 12 months.

Please note that the law relating to enforcement is extremely complex. This website gives only a general guide and should not be relied upon, or taken to be an interpretation of the law. The Council has adopted its own technical guide which contains detailed procedures for enforcement. This forms the basis for all investigations into enforcement action and the Council will have regard to this in all cases.