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Planning Enforcement Cases


We have developed a system of Stages for monitoring and categorising planning enforcement cases. There are 10 Stages and these are described briefly as follows:

Stage 1 Recently opened cases awaiting inspection.

Stage 2 Inspections carried out but breach not yet established.
Some cases may require several inspections/observations before a determination of breach may be established.

Stage 3 Breach found and awaiting further action.
A breach is considered to have occurred and consideration is being given as to the best course of action for the Council to follow.

Stage 4 Breach found and awaiting a period for voluntary resolution.
This is the most populated Stage. Many cases are resolved by voluntary agreement/action on the part of a contravening party prior to more formal action being taken.

Stage 5 Planning application received and awaiting determination.
A planning application has been received following intervention by the Enforcement Section and a decision is awaited.

Stage 6 Planning application determined and awaiting further action.
A planning application has been determined and consideration is being given as to the next course of action.

Stage 7 Section 330/PCN served.
A requisition for information notice has been served to establish if evidence of breach exists as a precursor to possible formal action.

Stage 8 Enforcement Notice served.
An Enforcement Notice or similar has been served to seek cessation/modification of alleged breach of planning control.

Stage 9 Subject to Appeal.
The recipient of an Enforcement Notice has lodged an appeal against the Notice and the outcome of the appeal is awaited.

Stage 10 Referred for Court action for compliance.
Where resolution may only be achieved by Court action e.g. non-compliance with an Enforcement Notice, Display of Illegal Advert, Amenity Notice etc.

Cases can move up or down between stages depending on action taken and the Council's response.

It should be noted however that:

  1. Alleged breaches of planning control can be complex and what may appear on first inspection to be a breach may subsequently be found not to be. Indeed many cases reported to the Service are found not to be a breach of planning control.
  2. The stages report can only be used as a listing of an address and description of an alleged breach of control that the Service is currently investigating.
  3. The Stages report cannot be used to confirm that there is any breach of planning control until after Stages 8 and 9 are completed and a relevant Enforcement Notice or similar has taken full effect.
  4. You are advised to read the enforcement information main page to obtain further information on how the Service deals with alleged breaches of planning control.
  5. Due to the constantly changing nature of enforcement cases a few records may not appear on the stages lists. It is also possible that there may be some duplication of records between the lists. Both of these instances are highlighted at the bottom of the stages report.

The current Enforcement cases can be viewed here (pdf)

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Page Last Updated
29 September 2008