Planning - customer charter for enforcement
Through the application of the relevant planning legislation
Planning and Regulation Services have the following objectives
when investigating enforcement matters:
- To ensure that everyone, residents and visitors alike, within
the Borough can enjoy a healthy, safe and accessible lifestyle
- To ensure that instances of breaches of planning control are
minimised by prompt investigation, sound negotiation and
resolution
- To ensure that the environment of the Borough including its
buildings, and its natural landscape are protected for future
generations
- To ensure that enforcement action is understood by those
involved, cost effective for all parties and effective in
fulfilling its purpose
If you ask us to investigate works or
activities, the our officers will:
- Treat your complaint in confidence so far as is possible
- Wherever possible acknowledge your complaint and tell you which
officer is dealing with it
- Let you know the outcome of any investigations
- Inform you of any resolution wherever possible
If a complaint is made about your property or
premises, we will:
- Not enter your property unless we believe that it is necessary
to do so. Our officers will give you proof of their identity when
necessary
- Carry out a full and independent investigation of the matter
before deciding on any action
- Tell you which Officer is dealing with the case and give you an
opportunity to discuss the matter with any relevant Officer
- Tell you what the conclusions of our investigations are. We
will write to you saying what you have done wrong, what we would
like you to do to put matters right, how long we will allow you to
do this, and what will happen if you do not put matters right
- Write to warn you if we decide to issue an Enforcement Notice
or start prosecution action
- Ensure that any requirements for compliance will only be that
necessary to ensure the problem is resolved
Breaches of planning control
Any unauthorised work that needs planning
permission may be a breach of planning control. This can include,
but is by no means limited to the following:
- Works being carried out without planning permission or after
permission has been withdrawn or refused
- Unauthorised changes of use of land or buildings
- Non-compliance with conditions imposed by a planning
permission
- Works not being carried in accordance with the plans approved
as part of a planning permission,
- Works on a listed building or tree featuring a tree
preservation order that do not have the necessary consents
The following are examples of activities that
are not breaches of planning control and therefore no planning
enforcement action can be taken against them:
- Parking of vehicles on the road or on grass verges (unless
associated with an unauthorised use of a property)
- Clearing land of undergrowth, bushes and trees provided they
are not subject to a tree preservation order
- Disputes about boundaries or the height of trees close to those
them, or the blocking of rights of way
If you are unsure if a matter requires
permission and wish to make a complaint, please contact us stating
what the actual problem is, and giving an address for the site. We
will respond as promptly as possible to inform you of any action
necessary.
If you are commencing a development or related
matter and wish to know if you need Planning Permission, the
Council can provide you with forms for submission to our department
to determine if permission is needed. If you complete the form and
return it to us, one of our Planning team will be able to formally
write to you to tell you if permission is needed or not.
Enforcement
The Council employs two Enforcement Officers
covering the following areas:
- Smallbridge, Wardle, Littleborough, Milnrow,
Newhey, Newbold, Turf Hill, Belfield, Town Centre, Shawclough,
Syke, Healey, Hamer, Kirkholt, Deeplish, and Balderstone
- Middleton, Norden, Bamford, Spotland, Rooley
Moor, Caldershaw, Prickshaw, Heywood, Birtle, Birch, Castleton,
Marland, and Slattocks
These Officers deal with cases, and actions
related to them, liasing with relevant Planners, Planning bodies
(such as the Environment Agency), and the Councils Legal Section
should proceedings be necessary.
Considerations
We have to consider some important questions
before action is taken and both the complainants and the possible
offenders legal rights must be preserved and respected. We must be
satisfied that :
- There is a substantive breach of planning control
- Any extenuating circumstances are taken into consideration
(e.g. has planning permission been applied for recently or a
retrospective application submitted?)
Once all the relevant factors have been
considered by our Enforcement Officers, we will inform the
complainant of any further action to be taken or how the situation
has been resolved.
Resolution
Our priority is to protect amenity, safeguard
the built environment and uphold local planning policy in the
speediest and most effective way. The Government advises Councils
to resort to enforcement action only where it is plainly necessary
and where there is obvious harm or nuisance being caused.
Our first action will be to contact the
offender in an effort to remedy the situation. More often than not,
situations are resolved with a letter. However, if this doesn’t
work, and further communications with the offender prove fruitless,
our Enforcement Officers will further assess the nature of the
complaint and how it can be resolved. In these situations
consideration will be given to the service of legal notices.
The various Notices that we can use in
relation to breaches of planning control are:
- Planning Contravention Notice - normally used
at the start of an investigation. It requires the person on whom it
is served to provide details of any operations or works that have
been carried out and details of anyone with a legal interest in the
site. This will not necessarily stop the breach, but gives us more
information to help us decide what to do.
- Breach of Condition Notice - deals with
breaches of the conditions of a planning permission that has
already been granted.
- Enforcement Notice - the notice most generally
used to deal with unauthorised development. There are similar
notices and powers to deal with listed buildings, advertisements
and wasteland. There is a right of appeal against an enforcement
notice, and the terms of the notice are suspended until the
Secretary of State reaches a decision on the appeal.
- Stop Notice - can be used only in particularly
urgent or serious cases requiring any unauthorised activity that
has implications for public safety, or related issues, to stop
immediately. If served incorrectly, the Council may be open to
claims for compensation and therefore the use of this power needs
to be carefully assessed.
- Injunctions - used in matters of extreme
urgency or importance. The Council must apply direct to the Courts
for an injunction and it is up to the Courts to agree to any
injunction proceedings.
If an Enforcement Notice is upheld it must be
complied with within a specified period, and non compliance does
then become a criminal offence which may result in the offender
being taken to Court.
Since the maximum fine for non compliance with
a valid Enforcement Notice is now £20,000, it is advisable to check
very carefully whether planning permission is needed for any
development or change of use before embarking on any proposal.
Your Help
The assistance of the public is often crucial
to the success of planning enforcement.
At all stages in the enforcement process, the
public's knowledge can supplement the information held on official
records. In addition, in some cases where monitoring over a period
of time is needed, we may need to rely on the public helping to
provide information. When making an enquiry, as much relevant
information as possible should be provided. In particular, the
address or location of the property concerned and full details of
the alleged breach (with dates and times if relevant) should be
given.
If an appeal is lodged against an enforcement
or other notice, we will notify anyone who informed us of the
matter and ask if they wish to submit additional information or
appear at an inquiry to support our case. The strength of local
support can be crucial to any success. However, at this stage, any
representations become public documents, which are available for
public inspection, including by the appellant and their legal
representatives.
We will try to keep you informed at all
relevant stages of our investigation.