If someone complains about your work

We understand that, in many cases, a breach of planning control may not be intentional and can be the result of a misunderstanding.  

If you receive a letter from us or a visit from an enforcement officer, please respond positively and provide the information we need to resolve the matter.  It is beneficial to everyone to address the alleged breach at an early stage.   

If it is possible to investigate the concerns and establish that there is no breach of planning control without disturbing you, we will not contact you.

We will use the information we get from a site visit to help assess any harm being caused and what further action we may need to take.  Allowing the enforcement officer to make a site visit and take photographs will help reduce time delays and any potential inconvenience. 

If a breach is found, we may:

• Ask you to correct any breach (by removing, modifying or stopping any development work)
• Ask you to apply for retrospective planning permission
• Issue you with a Planning Contravention Notice or other enforcement notices

We will always try to negotiate a solution in the first instance.  If this is unsuccessful we can then consider serving an enforcement notice.  We may prosecute offenders who fail to comply with an enforcement notice in the Magistrates Court.