Issue - meetings

1.    The report was received

2.    A further update would be provided alongside the next quarterly monitoring report on cases where enforcement action had been authorised.

The Chair was disappointed with the graph contained within this report.

The Council’s Head of Planning, Shawn Fleet advised that this report and chart indicated the number of enforcement cases currently on hand and incoming cases. However, the chart did not show the cases that had been looked at or dealt with. 

How the enforcement matters were being dealt with had been looked at, including why had the current situation arisen and how the situation would be dealt with in the future. There had been an escalation of cases coming in during lockdown as well as 2019/20, 2020/21 and the first part of this year.  In terms of performance, it was doing better this year.

The way in which enforcement cases were managed was being looked at.  The Council had an Enforcement Officer whose primary role was to go out to do inspections and to deal with a number of the cases.  More of the Planning Officers were now dealing with breaches of conditions on applications that they had previously dealt with or technical enforcement matters.

Some of the outstanding cases were being looked at as capacity allowed.

It was hoped that the gap of cases coming in against those being dealt with would be closed, working with the Chair, the Vice-Chair and the Portfolio Holder to review the work.

Councillor Sue Moffat asked if the Council’s Website could make it clearer on what was permitted development. 

Resolved:     (i)        That the report be received

(ii)             That a further update be provided alongside the next quarterly monitoring report on cases where enforcement action had been authorised.