Issue - meetings

(a)       That the Authority’s Planning Enforcement policy be reviewed and updated and a draft of the new policy be reported to the Committee for further endorsement to allow it to be taken forward for adoption; and

(b)       That the performance of the planning enforcement service against the published indicators for the year 2015/16 be noted.

The Chief Officer (Planning and Environment) introduced a report to

provide an update on Planning Enforcement.  He provided background information and advised that it was proposed to adopt a less formal approach in revising the Planning Enforcement Policy and to review the priorities over the response to certain breaches to provide a more realistic view of what can be achieved with the resources available.  He explained that the current Planning Enforcement Policy was appended to the report and also Brighton and Hove’s enforcement policy as an example of this lighter approach.  The Chief Officer referred to the proposed changes to the Planning Enforcement Policy as detailed in the report.

            The Chairman invited Members to raise questions.

            Councillor Cindy Hinds expressed concerns around the time taken by enforcement officers to resolve issues of non-compliance concerning residential developments.  The Chief Officer acknowledged the points made and agreed that feedback to the local Member could be improved to inform of progress with investigations.  He commented that some cases were complex and it could take a long time for enforcement to reach a resolution.  In response to a question the Planning Development Manager asked Members to be aware of the priorities and of what could not be addressed through Planning Enforcement, so that the public’s expectations in relation to particular cases were moderated accordingly

RESOLVED:

(a)       That the Authority’s Planning Enforcement policy be reviewed and updated and a draft of the new policy be reported to the Committee for further endorsement to allow it to be taken forward for adoption; and

(b)       That the performance of the planning enforcement service against the published indicators for the year 2015/16 be noted.