Planning Enforcement

The role of the Planning enforcement team is the investigation of unauthorised development.

  • The Council takes great care in balancing the need to protect the environment while promoting growth & investment. In the light of growing public concern it is recognised that all development should be properly controlled.
  • The Council can take enforcement action against development which does not have the necessary planning or other permissions. This includes the erection of buildings and the use of land as well works to trees and the display of signs. It can also enforce against non compliance with conditions attached to planning permissions.
  • The Council has a general discretion which allows it to take enforcement action only when it considers it appropriate, given the nature and extent of the breach of planning control.

Enforcement Policy

The Council has an enforcement policy, a summary of it's main aims are to:

  • a. educate and co-operate to avoid breaches of planning control;
  • b. negotiate to rectify;
  • c. consider all circumstances before looking at action;
  • d. give warning if breach not rectified;
  • e. if appropriate, serve Planning Contravention Notice;
  • f. consider Amenity Notice*/Breach of Condition Notice/Enforcement Notice*/Stop Notice*/ Listed Building Enforcement Notice*/Repairs Notice/Urgent Works Notice/Prosecution for Listed Building Harm;
  • g. if default in compliance, re-consider circumstances before looking at Prosecution for Default in Complying with Notice;

[The following actions [h] and [i] are not dealt with in our policy]

  • h. in exceptional cases, consider all circumstances before looking at applying to the Court for Injunction before breach or after, if real damage or harm is imminent and cannot be prevented any other way;
  • i. Direct action to take the steps under an enforcement notice the owners should have taken.

*denotes that all of these are appeal-able to the Planning Inspectorate

The appropriateness of all these is largely governed by three things -

  • need to act proportionately & give sound reasons for adopting one approach rather than another;
  • all the circumstances within the policy framework, political priority and public expectation;
  • resources.

Specifically, in relation to the setting up of a Travellers' site in advance of planning consent, the following actions are possible where work proceeds and, despite warnings, looks set to continue:

  • Service of an enforcement notice requiring the use to stop and the site to be put back to its original form;
  • on serving of the enforcement notice (e.n.), immediate serving of a stop notice requiring the works in breach of the e. n. to stop. Although such notices normally have 3 days before they take effect, in practice we can normally justify immediate effect;
  • if works continue in breach of the stop notice, it is our practice to apply for an injunction, and if works still continue, apply to the court for sanction against those in breach (i.e. fines and in certain circumstances custodial sentences can be made). While this action has proved to be successful in halting legitimate contractors working on the Travellers' behalf, it is much less successful where the work is being carried out by the Travellers themselves.

As many of these cases take place over weekends/public holidays we have set up an out of office procedure to allow for immediate service of these notices. However, the legislation has been of limited effect. The new immediate-effect stop notice implemented by the ODPM has not changed things significantly. Where we have advance notice of a possible Traveller incursion, we can consider seeking a preventive injunction, but we do not underestimate the difficulty of finding sufficient evidence in front of a judge. A longer-term action is compulsory purchase. However this is not a quick procedure and has the right of appeal.

More information can also be found in Planning Enforcement.