*O&S 67
Members
considered a report that sought to recommend the adoption of a
Local Enforcement Plan and a Planning Enforcement Member Engagement
Protocol. In addition, the report also
sought Member endorsement of a series of proposed
actions.
In
discussion, the following points were raised:-
(a)
Such was the importance of the Planning Enforcement function that
the Committee requested that the Plan, Protocol and Actions be
reviewed a further six-months after their adoption;
(b)
In terms of general service performance, Members recognised that
progress had been made, but also emphasised the importance of
maintaining this upward trend to ensure that trust and confidence
were regained amongst town and parish councils and local
residents;
(c)
A minor amendment was made to the Plan (Appendix A, paragraph 5.13
refers) to include reference to a planning application being
invited ‘within a timeframe to be agreed between the
applicant(s) and the Council’;
(d)
Some Members requested receipt of statistics related to how many
Enforcement Notices had been served by the Council (and the average
time taken to determine these) in the last twelve
months. In making this request, the
importance of the legal function giving priority to the serving of
Notices was also stated;
(e)
The production of the Enforcement Case lists by Ward (and not by
Parish) was welcomed;
(f)
In light of there being some very minor numerical and typographical
errors identified, it was suggested that Delegated Authority be
given to the Community Of Practice Lead, in consultation with the
lead Hub Committee Member for Customer First, to make any necessary
minor amendments prior to the Plan, Protocol and Actions being
finally adopted.
It was then:
RESOLVED
That the Hub Committee be
RECOMMENDED to-
1.
adopt the Local Enforcement Plan
(as outlined at Appendix 1 of the presented agenda
report);
2.
adopt the Planning Engagement
Member Engagement Protocol (as outlined at Appendix 2 of the
presented agenda report);
3.
endorse the proposed Actions (as
set out in Section 4 of the presented agenda report);
4.
delegate authority to the
Community Of Practice Lead Development Management, in consultation
with the lead Hub Committee Member for Customer First, to make any
minor amendments to the Plan, Protocol and Actions prior to their
adoption;
5.
note that the Overview and
Scrutiny Committee has requested inclusion in its Future Work
Programme of a review within the next six months of this Plan,
Protocol and Actions being adopted.