Stratford-on-Avon District Council receives cash boost for Enforcement service

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Press Release

Published on 16 September 2019
Archived on 16 October 2019


Councils across the country are set to benefit from a slice of nearly £2 million to crack down on illegal developments on the nation's Green Belt.

Stratford-on-Avon District Council has been successful with a bid for funding from the Planning Delivery Fund - a one off cash boost to assist with the costs of tackling unauthorised development in areas with swathes of Green Belt land.

The £50,000 funding will be used to appoint a temporary 'Compliance Officer' within the Enforcement Team, who would be responsible for monitoring planning conditions and securing compliance with conditions on development sites.

Cllr Anne Parry, Regulatory Portfolio says: "The District Council's Planning Enforcement team is one of the busiest in the West Midlands and last year 23 formal actions were taken. The majority of the work is reactive and this funding will go towards recruiting an additional officer to assist with more proactive work, which will include monitoring compliance with planning conditions on major development sites.

"There are a number of major developments that have started or are scheduled to start in the next 12 months. Many of these have long lists of planning conditions; having this role in place will ensure that the development which the public expects to see happen, does actually take place in accordance with the approved details with no delays on site.

"The District is such a large rural area and the team does have to rely on intelligence and information from members of the public, but the team can't be everywhere all the time and workloads have to be prioritised, so any additional resources to supplement the current level of council investment are very welcome."

Alongside the cash boost for councils, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government is teaming up with the Royal Town Planning Institute to overhaul the national enforcement handbook.

The updated handbook will provide the latest best practice and expertise on shutting down illegal building and preventing it from happening, whilst ensuring developers obtain full planning permission before a shovel hits the ground.


The Housing Minister Rt Hon Esther McVey MP made the announcement on 12 September at the annual RESI Convention.

 37 councils are to receive a total of up to £50,000 each, these are as follows:

  • Cheshire West and Chester
  • Sevenoaks
  • South Staffordshire
  • Epping Forest
  • Central Bedfordshire
  • Kirklees
  • Bath and North East Somerset
  • Guildford
  • Wakefield
  • Tandridge
  • Doncaster
  • South Cambridgeshire
  • Barnsley
  • South Gloucestershire
  • Calderdale
  • York
  • Stratford-on-Avon
  • Rugby
  • Rotherham
  • Mole Valley
  • Bromsgrove
  • Warwick
  • East Hertfordshire
  • Staffordshire Moorlands
  • Chiltern
  • North Warwickshire
  • Tonbridge and Malling
  • Rushcliffe
  • Windsor and Maidenhead
  • North Somerset
  • Cheshire East
  • Selby
  • Bradford
  • Leeds
  • Shropshire
  • Northumberland
  • Dorset Council

The District Council currently has a team of 3.5 FTE Enforcement Officers and receives around 700 cases a year to investigate, with limited capacity for pro-active enforcement or monitoring of conditions.


Contact details

Stratford-on-Avon District Council
Elizabeth House, Church Street,
Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire,
CV37 6HX
Tel: 01789 267575

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Last updated on 16/09/2019