Purpose

Planning Enforcement Policy

Decision

In June 2023, the Committee had
agreed a Planning Enforcement policy for the District with the
following four objectives:
 

(i)    to make the
Council’s planning enforcement function effective, timely and
results driven;
 

(ii)   to provide a clear
statement on behalf of the Council of how it wishes to see planning
enforcement action prioritised, with particular respect to those
breaches of planning control that have the potential to cause the
greatest levels of harm to the environment and/or amenity of local
residents;
 

(iii)  to ensure that the full
panoply of enforcement powers are considered and used in achieving
the objectives of this Policy; and
 

(iv)  to provide greater feedback and so transparency of the
Council’s planning enforcement function.
 
At that time, it was made clear
that further work was required on some elements of the policy
including resourcing, measures to achieve greater resilience and
performance monitoring. As a result of that further work, a
proposed updated policy was presented with refined priorities and
more realistic timescales for initial site visits and the serving
of statutory notices to reflect enforcement officer workloads. The
updated policy also included changes in national planning
policy.
 
The Deputy Chief Executive
explained that providing a more effective enforcement service was a
key corporate priority, including the potential for partnering with
neighbouring authorities and other organisations. She agreed to
follow up the invitation from the former Chief Planning Officer for
Members to highlight enforcement cases of concern within their
Wards. She would also pursue concerns expressed by Councillor
Pursehouse regarding an ongoing case within his Ward.    
 
During the debate, it was
questioned whether the Council should aspire to a more pro-active
enforcement approach to ensure compliance with certain planning
conditions, such as the installation of sustainable drainage
solutions. While the potential benefits of such a ‘compliance
officer’ role were acknowledged, the Chair considered that
the service would have to remain in a solely reactive role (in
response to alleged planning breaches) for the foreseeable future.
This prompted discussion about the need to restrict the imposition
of planning conditions to those which met the six tests identified
within the National Planning Policy Framework.  
 
It was confirmed that the
policy included a commitment to review and report upon the
performance of the enforcement service (to the Committee) every six
months, although this could be undertaken at anytime if
required.
 

           
R E S O L V E D – that the revised Planning
Enforcement Policy, attached at Appendix A to the report, be
adopted.