Enforcement plan for dealing with careless developers introduced

Harborough District Council has approved a new enforcement plan for dealing with planning complaints such as altering land or buildings without planning permission, unauthorised development in conservation areas, changes to listed buildings, or advertisements; and keeping untidy land.

Cabinet, agreed on 9 September 2024, to adopt the Planning Enforcement Policy 2024-2027, replacing its Local Enforcement Plan of April 2018.

The updated plan is an important document to enable the council to deliver an efficient, responsive planning enforcement service. The document provides a clear road map for people to be able to understand how the service operates and how to use and access it.

The revised policy sets out a more proactive approach to monitoring planning control across the Harborough district including compliance with the requirements of planning permissions granted. It also outlines the role of the service in relation to open spaces and stresses the importance of landscape management plans.

A new section has been included on making complaints about the council’s planning enforcement service. While the council aims to operate a high performing service, it is important that users can hold the service to account.

The council will aim to resolve matters that arise via informal and non-enforcing routes whenever possible and will only use formal planning enforcement as a last resort where it appears that a breach in planning control cannot be resolved.

The council will also keep the new policy document under review in the light of changes to the planning system proposed through a new National Planning Policy Framework and other guidance. 

Cllr Simon Galton, Cabinet lead for Planning, said: “We have a responsibility to residents to ensure effective and proportionate enforcement of planning control. Our Planning Enforcement Policy 2024-2027 sets out, in a clear and concise way, the practices which the council’s planning enforcement service is taking following national planning guidance.

“One of the early changes we made was to add a full time Compliance Officer into the Planning Enforcement Team to give the council more capacity to identify issues early and to ensure they get corrected quickly. We are committed to working with developers to ensure building projects can go ahead with minimal disruption and within the boundaries of planning law.”

To view the council’s Planning Enforcement Policy 2024-2027 visit  https://cmis.harborough.gov.uk/cmis5/Meetings.aspx and click on Cabinet.