Enforcement

Enforcement Control

The Council has powers to control unauthorised development and may take formal action in order to remedy a breach of planning control where it is expedient and in the public interest to do so.

Contact

You can contact the enforcement section directly with a complaint using the online form

Included here is a printable complaint form, which can be downloaded, completed and returned to the Development Control section for investigation. See the Contacts page for further information.

The Council aims to achieve the following:

• The Enforcement section aims to resolve 60% of all complaints from members of the public within 12 weeks of receipt (resolving a case would involve taking formal action, receiving a planning application, or judging there to be either no breach or a breach not worthy of action).
• The section aims to resolve 70% of all non-complaint files within 6 months of receipt. (Resolving a case would involve taking formal action, receiving a planning application, or judging there to be either no breach or a breach not worthy of action).

The section also aims to meet following targets with regard to enforcement matters:

• Written complaints should be acknowledged within 7 working days; Treating all complaints as confidential (except where formal witnesses are required);
• Written complaints to be investigated within 14 days of receipt (this could involve a site visit or correspondence to the party involved);
• Assessment of the severity of the breach within 21 days;
• Keeping the complainant updated of the situation if the case has not been resolved within 12 weeks;
• Advising complainants of enforcement action within 28 days of service of a notice;
• Publicising policy and procedures on enforcement.

It should be noted that in general the section would investigate complaints where the complainant is identified and a written complaint form or letter is provided. Telephone complainants will usually be sent a complaint form to complete and return, however anonymous complaints will generally only be investigated where time constraints allow. In addition, the section has recently received a number of malicious and spurious complaints from anonymous sources and it should be noted that such complaints are given the very lowest priority.