Planning Enforcement

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Last revised: 29 February 2008

Our policy

The Council is committed to investigating all alleged breaches of planning control, including development that may have taken place without planning permission and breaches of conditions attached to planning permissions that have been granted.

The Council's aim is to protect the environment that Kennet residents and visitors enjoy and to act in the public interest. This means that some breaches that may be discovered can satisfactorily be dealt with by the granting of retrospective planning permission. However, more serious cases may require formal enforcement action to either remove an unauthorised building or bring to an end an inappropriate use. The decisive issue in deciding which course of action to take is whether the breach of control is considered unacceptable and harmful to public amenity or the public interest.

The Council deals with over 1700 planning applications each year. However, it has limited resources and employs 2 planning enforcement officers to cover the whole of the district. In these circumstances, it is not possible to monitor every permission and condition proactively. For this reason, the Council's policy on enforcement is essentially reactive, responding to complaints received from local residents and parish councils. However, larger sites may be monitored, particularly those with planning agreements that require payment to public bodies of contributions towards essential services, such as public transport, schools, community use and recreation facilities.

Reporting a breach of planning control

If you wish to make a complaint concerning a development that you consider to be taking place without planning permission, or one that is in breach of conditions attached to a planning permission, please follow this link and report your complaint. The link will open an e-mail that should be completed with all known details of the alleged breach and then sent to the Council using the address provided. We will acknowledge receipt of your complaint within one working day.

How we deal with complaints concerning breaches of planning control

The Council has an established procedure for investigating complaints:

  • We employ two planning enforcement officers. Their job is to investigate all the complaints received. They aim to visit 90% of all sites within 10 days of the complaint being received. The identity of complainants is kept confidential and is not disclosed to the landowner or any outside party.

  • Their first task is to find out whether there has been a breach of the planning regulations. Our experience is that many of the complaints we receive relate to works that either do not require planning permission or already have it. In these circumstances, the case is closed and the complainant is informed of the outcome.

  • If the investigation confirms that a breach of planning control has occurred, a decision will be made as to the appropriate course of action to be taken.

  • If it is considered that a retrospective planning application is appropriate, one will be requested and the complainant will be advised of its receipt to allow him/her to comment on it. It may be possible to impose conditions on the permission that overcome the concerns of complainants. Each planning application is treated on its own merits.

  • If a planning application is not submitted, despite a request to do so, we will decide whether further enforcement action is in the public interest. It may not be appropriate to take formal action if a breach is trivial. If it is decided that it is not expedient to pursue the matter, the complainant will be given a clear explanation of the reasons why.

  • If a breach of planning control is confirmed and is considered unacceptable, the Council will take formal action to seek to remedy the situation. This could include serving an Enforcement Notice in the case of development taking place without planning permission, or a Breach of Condition Notice if it is a condition on a planning permission that is not being complied with. The complainant will be informed when a notice is served. An Enforcement Notice or Breach of Condition Notice will make it clear what the breach of planning control is; why it is regarded as unacceptable; what has to be done to rectify the situation and when the required action has to be completed by.

  • Enforcement Notices can be appealed by those who they are served on. If this occurs, the complainant will be advised of the appeal and all subsequent appeal procedures. Appeals are dealt with by independent Planning Inspectors appointed by the Secretary of State.

  • If the appeal is dismissed, the Council will enforce the terms of the Notice, unless there are overriding reasons for delaying such action.

How can I find out if an Enforcement Notice has been served on a property?

A list of all enforcement notices served since 1st January 2002 can be found by following this link.

How can I appeal against an Enforcement Notice?

If an enforcement notice has been served on you, you should have received at the same time full details of how to make an appeal to the Planning Inspectorate.

It is important that you read the Enforcement Notice carefully and consider whether you have grounds for appeal. There are a number of grounds on which an appeal can be based, details of which should be in the documentation sent with the Enforcement Notice.

If you want further information, the Planning Inspectorate provides advice in booklets available on their web site. This can be viewed at: http://www.planning-inspectorate.gov.uk/pins/appeals/enforcement_appeals/index.htm
 (External link)

Where can I find more information on Government policy on planning enforcement?

The Government have published Planning Policy Guidance Note 18 (PPG18) 'Enforcing Planning Control'. This can be viewed on the planning pages of the DCLG web site (home page www.communities.gov.uk (External link) ). It was published in 1991 and remains current. The Government have indicated that they will be updating this by 2008

Our performance on enforcement investigations

In the last quarter of 2006 (October-December), we achieved:

  • an initial response on all complaints brought to our notice within 10 working days of being notified;

  • service of 7 enforcement notices;

  • a successful defence of the one enforcement appeal decided during this period;