Stratford-on-Avon District Council consults on Local Enforcement Plan

Stratford-on-Avon District Council has this week, launched a consultation on its draft Local Enforcement Plan (LEP).

The District Council has reviewed its Local Enforcement Plan (LEP) which describes the work priorities for the Planning Enforcement Team.

Unlike many other regulatory services which the District Council provides, the Planning Enforcement service is discretionary, which means that there is no obligation on councils to provide this service.

The plan follows national guidance and it recognises that some matters are more harmful than others. It describes how the service goes about identifying the most serious complaints and then deciding the priority of these complaints, which is essential given that the resources available for this work are in no way sufficient to allow every matter to be pursued to its conclusion. Therefore, the most significant matters are targeted and Council resources are not:

• Diverted into less serious/trivial issues.
• Become used by complainants to pursue neighbour disputes which may have their origins in issues outside of the complaints made.
• Used in an attempt to obstruct developments which have been permitted against local opposition.                                                                              

The plan is now out for consultation - www.stratford.gov.uk/planning-building/draft-local-enforcement-plan-consultation.cfm and comments should be made by 12noon on 30 June 2021.

Councillor Anne Parry, Planning Portfolio Holder, said: "The District Council recognises the importance of providing a Planning Enforcement service which reviews and resolves possible breaches of planning law, despite being a discretionary service.

"Having a Local Enforcement Plan is therefore essential, in order to prioritise resources and ensure officer time is directed in the most appropriate way. By revising this plan, it is intended that more investigation resources will be released and targeted to pursue genuinely harmful planning breaches.

"Anyone with an interest in helping to better target the Council's actions is encouraged to respond to the consultation which runs until the end of June 2021."

UPDATE: In view of the interest in the revised Local Enforcement Plan we have decided to extend the period of consultation until 12noon on Monday 19th July as we value comments and feedback on this important document.