Agenda item - Planning Enforcement Annual Report 2017/2018

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Agenda item

Planning Enforcement Annual Report 2017/2018

Minutes:

41.1       Robin Hodgetts, Principal Planning Officer, introduced the annual enforcement report. He apologised that the report had not been timelier in coming to the Committee.

 

(2)             The Chair welcomed the improvements in the team’s performance detailed in the report and looked forward to the introduction of the Planning Enforcement Policy Document which was being brought to the Tourism, Development & Culture Committee in September.

 

(3)             In response to Councillor Mac Cafferty, Officers stated that the Field Officers could be tasked by the Planning Enforcement Team to investigate reports of unauthorised work to listed buildings helping to ensure a swift reaction from the Council. Officers also clarified that there had been four Listed Building Enforcement Notices issued in the last financial year.

 

(4)             In response to Councillor Hyde, Officers stated that although the Field Officers were not qualified planners they were experienced in other areas of regulatory activity and all of their work on planning matters would be in conjunction with the Planning Enforcement Team.

 

(5)             In response to Councillor Gilbey, Officers stated that reported unauthorised houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) were not included in calculations when considering applications for new HMOs. However, unauthorised HMOs where the landlord was currently negotiating with the council or unauthorised HMOs that were the subject of an appeal would be included in any calculations.

 

(6)             In response to Councillor Gilbey, Officers clarified that the cases closed in the last financial year were not necessarily received in the same year.

 

(7)             In response to Councillor Theobald, Officers stated that they were currently recruiting to the Enforcement Team and that the new officer was due to start in mid-October.

 

(8)             In response to Councillor Hyde, Officers stated that they did not wish to give the impression that they were focusing on HMOs solely and neglecting other aspects of enforcement such as protecting listed buildings. They stated that cases involving listed buildings may be more complex and thus take more time to close or that where there was no danger of increased harm to a listed building that officers may agree a reasonable timescale for work to be undone.

 

(9)             In response to Councillor Miller, the Planning Manger stated that Field Officers would be well placed to carry out more proactive work to improve the visual amenity of the city through section 215 notices. The Planning Manger also stated that the roughly 800 open enforcement cases were not necessarily static but could be being actively investigated or may be delayed while waiting for an appeal which could take up to 18 months to be processed by the Planning Inspectorate. The Planning Enforcement Policy Document would improve the situation by setting clearer priorities and timescales for enforcement actions. The Planning Enforcement team also sat within the wider Planning budget and had to be balanced against ensuring there was adequate capacity in the Council to meet statutory deadlines when responding to planning applications.

 

(10)          In response to Councillor Littman, the Planning Manager stated that she acknowledged that non expedient cases were frustrating to the complainant and that the Planning Enforcement Policy Document if agreed by Members would provide clearer guidance for residents about enforcement action and timescales.

 

(11)          Officers sought to provide assurance to Councillor Wealls that they took enforcement deadlines into account when managing caseloads and that they were not aware of any recent cases where the Council had not been able to take action due to being out of time.

 

(12)          RESOLVED – That the Committee noted the report.

Supporting documents:

 


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