Issue - meetings

Summary of Incoming and Closed Enforcement Cases by Month.

The Committee received and noted a report providing a summary of incoming and closed enforcement cases by month.

The following matters were considered:

a)            Opened cases. A Member of the Committee asked if any of the opened enforcement cases are cases which have been around a long time and have still not been resolved. The Head of Development Management and Planning Enforcement informed the Committee that the opened cases are made up of new and historic cases. He confirmed that there has been a backlog of cases to be dealt with and there is additional resourcing going into solving that. The Chair confirmed that there has been one full time enforcement officer until recently when a new member of staff has joined who will work both on development and enforcement.

b)            Enforcement action. A Member of the Committee raised that there are Members of the Public who are concerned that if enforcement is left too late, it becomes much more difficult. The Head of Development Management and Planning Enforcement acknowledged that this might be the situation for a small number of cases, however, the table in the report shows that a majority of cases are either leading to a planning application being submitted or they are permitted development, meaning there is no breach at all.