Planning Enforcement

In order to assess alleged breaches our officers may do the following:

• carry out desktop research;
• review the planning history of the site;
• contact the "breacher" and seek further information from them;
• visit the site and, where deemed necessary, take photographs or make measurements.

Resources will be targeted at pursuing cases where there is demonstrable harm.

Appropriate enforcement action will be taken where it can be demonstrated that there is significant harm caused through:

• the loss of residential amenity;
• loss of character of an area;
• development/use being contrary to Local Plan Policy;
• an unacceptable precedent.

Responding to complainants

If you provide contact details and indicate that you are happy for the Council to contact you, we will write to you once (by email or by post) to confirm that we have received your complaint.

Whether we contact you again after that, will depend upon whether or not you have indicated that you wish to continue to be informed. Even where you wish to be kept informed, we have limited resources and are not able to provide regular updates to complainants. We will endeavour however, to let you know when we have:

• successfully prosecuted someone; and
• taken a decision to take no further action.

We respectfully ask that you do not repeatedly visit our offices or call/email our officers requesting updates.