Question submitted by Councillor J Hook:-
I refer to the recent decision of the Ombudsman, in favour of MR X, relating to the enforcement action taken against the unauthorised junction at Larkspur Drive with Mile End Rd.
The Ombudsman concluded that "the Council's delay and lack of incisiveness in dealing with the unauthorised access amounts to fault", and the Council has let the matter "drift". I have also been chasing for the last couple of years for action on this and other matters relating to the discharge of a condition to ensure the management of open space and the provision of allotments, on the Persimmon's part of the Hele Park development. Can the PH for Planning and Housing tell us what action he has taken as a result of the Ombudsman decision to ensure these 2 outstanding matters are now resolved in a prompt manner? We are seeing more and more houses built and our Enforcement staff resource is clearly stretched. Is not the Ombudsman decision a further indication that we need another full time Enforcement Officer in order to fulfil our statutory duties.
Minutes:
Question submitted by Councillor J Hook:-
I refer to the recent decision of the Ombudsman, in favour of MR X, relating to the enforcement action taken against the unauthorised junction at Larkspur Drive with Mile End Rd.
The Ombudsman concluded that "the Council's delay and lack of incisiveness in dealing with the unauthorised access amounts to fault", and the Council has let the matter "drift". I have also been chasing for the last couple of years for action on this and other matters relating to the discharge of a condition to ensure the management of open space and the provision of allotments, on the Persimmon's part of the Hele Park development. Can the PH for Planning and Housing tell us what action he has taken as a result of the Ombudsman decision to ensure these 2 outstanding matters are now resolved in a prompt manner? We are seeing more and more houses built and our Enforcement staff resource is clearly stretched. Is not the Ombudsman decision a further indication that we need another full time Enforcement Officer in order to fulfil our statutory duties.
Answer by the Portfolio Holder for Housing & Planning
We acknowledge that the combined enforcement and planning process led to delays in the Mile End Road case, however the Team does not expect these circumstances to be repeated as we are trying to take a more pro-active approach to resolving enforcement cases.
Our Planning Enforcement Policy is published online.
We cannot take enforcement action in relation to cases where planning applications remain undecided as this would be unreasonable.
We can only take action where it is expedient and/ or in the public interest to do so.
Since the Ombudsman’s decision planning permission has been refused for the retention of the access and an Enforcement Notice has been issued. However, an appeal has been submitted against the Enforcement Notice which means it is currently pending the outcome of the appeal. We are waiting for a start date for the appeal.
The final pieces of information in relation to the provision of the allotments at Hele Park have been submitted and we hope to agree the details shortly. I understand an overarching management company is in place for the open spaces and the spaces are being regularly maintained.
To overcome the particular problems of major development sites the Council amended its adopted Planning Enforcement Policy to include monitoring visits to the larger sites. These include the Case Officer, the Developer and the Ward Councillor and have started taking place in relation to the Linden Homes scheme at Whitehill. These visits should spot concerns early so that remedies can be agreed before development has proceeded too far. It is hoped that this will help prevent long delays in dealing with any issues.
Resources and Benchmarking
Whilst I am sure the team would welcome additional resources, I do not consider that this was the reason for the delay in dealing with the Mile End case.
The Enforcement Team deal with between 450 and 500 complaints each year and the vast majority of these are dealt with quickly. However, one or two complaints may take longer than we would all hope.
Two years ago, the previous Business Manager undertook some benchmarking work in relation to the size and capacity of the enforcement team.
This showed a remarkably consistent number of cases being received each year. It also showed that, compared to nearby authorities, our Officers deal with a similar number of cases each, each year.
There is not considered to be a need for additional resource at this time however it is critical to the effectiveness of the team that decisions continue to be made in a timely manner and that the twin principles of expediency and acting in the public interest are upheld.
Supplementary question
In response Councillor J Hook asked a supplementary question regarding the lack of resources in the enforcement team, the Portfolio Holder for Planning & Housing commented that he would encourage Members to get involved and visit those major planning developments in their areas.