Stage 1 – acknowledgement
We prioritise each complaint we receive, and send an acknowledgement within 3 working days.
We prioritise each complaint we receive, and send an acknowledgement within 3 working days.
The first stage of investigation is called a 'desktop' investigation. For this, we will:
If it's not clear to us how planning control may have been breached, we may contact the person who made the complaint and ask for more information.
If we believe the complaint is not a planning matter, no action will be taken and the case will be closed. Non-planning matters include:
Details of non-planning complaints will be passed to other agencies, where relevant.
Our Planning Enforcement Officers will visit the site of the alleged breach. This involves:
If a breach of control has clearly taken place then, depending on the nature of the breach, we will immediately contact the owner, occupier or person responsible and advise them to stop work until the matter is resolved. They will be advised that any further work carried out will be entirely at their own risk and may be subject to enforcement action.
Following their initial site visit, our Planning Enforcement Officers will contact the owner, occupier or person responsible for the alleged unauthorised development, to either:
We will write to the complainant, telling them of the initial findings and any proposed action.
The complainant should be prepared to tell the investigating officer:
With this information, our the investigating officer can decide the best time to visit the site so the reported breach of planning control can be confirmed or witnessed.
Depending upon the outcome of Stage 4, Planning Enforcement Officers may have to:
After investigations have been completed, the council we will take no further action if:
If we find there has been a material breach of planning control then we will either
We will inform the complainant of our decision