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Planning & Development Control Enforcement

Report a Planning breach online

Use the online form to notify us of any suspected breaches of planning regulations or if you suspect no planning permission has been sought.

What are the Council's enforcement powers?

The Council's main enforcement powers are:

• To issue an Enforcement Notice stating the required steps to remedy an alleged breach of planning control within a time limit.
• To serve a Breach of Condition Notice if there is a failure to comply with a condition.
• To serve a Stop Notice that can prohibit, almost immediately any activity to which an accompanying Enforcement Notice relates.
• Apply to the High Court or County Court for an injunction to restrain an actual or apprehended breach of planning control.
• Following the landowners default, to enter land and to carry out the remedial work required by an Enforcement Notice and to charge the owner for the costs incurred in doing so.

A copy of the Council's Charter for Planning Enforcement can be viewed or downloaded here.

What happens after a notice is served?

There is a right of appeal against the serving of an Enforcement Notice and there are cost implications in serving Stop Notices and Injunctions. Further advice on Enforcement Appeals is available here, following this link will take you to The Planning Portal, which is an external site.

However, after an Enforcement Notice has become effective, or at any time after a Stop Notice has been served, failure to comply with the requirements of the Enforcement Notice, or the prohibition in a Stop Notice is a criminal offence.  In addition, Section 215 of the Town and Country Planning Act can be used to serve a notice, to require the proper maintenance of land if its condition adversely affects the amenity of the area.

However, there is no right of appeal against a Breach of Condition Notice; if a Notice has been served and the contravention continues, you will be at risk of immediate prosecution in the Magistrates' Court, for which the maximum penalty is £1,000 for a first offence and for any subsequent offence.

There is no right of appeal against a Stop Notice; if you fail to comply with the Notice you will be at risk of immediate prosecution in the Magistrates' Court, for which the maximum penalty is £20,000 on summary conviction for a first offence and for any subsequent offence.