Planning Enforcement Charter 2024-2026

The Council aims to provide a planning enforcement service which the public will be satisfied with. If, however, you have any suggestions for improvement, concerns or difficulties, this Service would like to hear from you. The Council is committed to improving our service and dealing promptly with the cause of a complaint. This Service will investigate all complaints made about the way an enforcement enquiry was dealt with. Whilst some people may disagree with the outcome of an investigation, that in itself is not grounds for complaint about the service provided.

A complaint, not about the factual outcome of the case but of the manner in which it has been handled, may be made in relation to the Council's Complaints Handling Procedure (CHP), although this can only be made on the following grounds:

• Delays in responding to your enquiries and requests
• Failure to provide a service
• Our standard of service
• Treatment by or attitude of a member of staff
• Our failure to follow proper enforcement procedures (as laid down in this Planning Enforcement Charter).

In the first instance, complaints about the enforcement service should be discussed with the member of staff involved. If you are dissatisfied, please contact the Principal Planner Enforcement Officer under the Stage 1 procedure, using this link

If you are still dissatisfied with the advice provided, you can ask for the name of a more senior officer who will investigate the matter under the Stage 2 procedure. If you are not satisfied with these responses, you can pursue the formal Council complaint procedure. This is detailed on the Council's website at this link.