Council’s new plan gives residents clarity on planning enforcement
Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council has adopted a new plan setting out clearly how it investigates and deals with alleged planning breaches.
The Planning Enforcement Plan is designed to provide greater transparency, fairness and proportionality, giving the public confidence that planning rules are enforced consistently and fairly.
It sets out:
- What counts as a breach of planning control.
- How residents can report concerns.
- How cases are prioritised.
- What timescales people can expect.
- The range of actions the council can take, from negotiation through to formal enforcement and prosecution.
Planning enforcement covers a wide range of issues, including unauthorised building works and changes of use, breaches of planning conditions, and unauthorised works to listed buildings or protected trees. The council takes a targeted approach to enforcement, focusing its resources on the most serious cases - particularly those that cause real harm to local amenity, heritage assets or the environment.
In a recent success, the council prosecuted the owner of a Grade II-listed public house at Judges Hill for failing to comply with an enforcement notice ordering them to remedy unauthorised works to the building. Despite the owner promising to comply with the notice after having an appeal against the notice dismissed, the required works were not carried out for an extended period, and the site remained in breach.
The owner pleaded guilty and was fined £22,400 by the court, as well as being ordered to pay £50,000 in prosecution costs plus a £2,000 victim surcharge, along with the planning breaches now being corrected.
Councillor Rose Grewal, Leader of the Council and Executive Member for Planning, said:
“Breaches of planning control can have a huge impact on our residents and damage our borough’s heritage. We are determined to do all we can to ensure harmful breaches are rectified by taking swift and decisive action.
“By setting out our approach to enforcement in a single document, this plan will provide greater transparency and consistency in decision making. I would encourage residents to report any concerns they have so they can help us to protect our borough and preserve our heritage.”
Read the plan in full here.