Issue - meetings

The Executive Member will consider a report which will provide him with an update on planning enforcement cases and the progress of work within the enforcement team on its development and the new Enforcement Plan.  

Resolved:

i.             That the contents of the report be noted.

Reason: To enable the Executive Member to receive the update.

The Executive Member considered a report which provided him with an update on planning enforcement cases and the progress of work within the planning enforcement team on its development and the new Enforcement Plan. The Head of Planning and Development Services and the Principal Development Management Officer were in attendance to present the report and respond to questions.

Officers noted that:

·        In 2020 there had been 499 new planning enforcement investigation cases, and 467 were closed. A total of 580 investigations remained open at the end of the year and 12 enforcement notices had been served.

·        To date in 2021, 496 new planning enforcement investigation cases were received and 522 were closed. A total of 535 remained open.

·        Enforcement notices were served for a number of issues, such as failure to comply with noise conditions, an unauthorised porch, an unauthorised access road, the conversion of stables to a holiday let and untidy land. 12 enforcement notices in 2020 indicated a significant increase since 2015.

·        There had been some issues in publishing the Enforcement Register online, but the fully up to date version had now been published.

·        3 members of staff had retired from the Enforcement team this year, and staff were in the process of recruiting for these posts and had increased the posts in the team by 0.8. A review of the Council’s Enforcement Plan was also underway.

The Executive Member noted that:

·        The current administration was committed to the delivery of the Local Plan, emphasising that more progress had been made on the current Plan than any in the last 50 years.

·        Planning Enforcement was an issue that affected all ward councillors in York, and that in order to prevent frustration to reasonable members of the public and the members representing them, clarity was needed in the review on what does and does not come under the remit of the Planning Committee and what issues can and cannot be enforced by officers.

·        He had been active in responding to Government consultations on Planning, emphasising the need to balance development in keeping with the great amount of heritage in the city with sympathetic development in the future.

·        The Planning Enforcement team was now at 4.8 full time equivalent positions.

·        The pandemic and lockdowns may have contributed to the higher number of cases this year.

·        He was looking forward to examining the key performance indicators for planning.

Resolved:

i.             That the contents of the report be noted.

Reason: To enable the Executive Member to receive the update.