Planning Enforcement

The Council is responsible for making sure development does not take place without the correct permission. If a development has been carried out without necessary permission or not in accordance with the planning permission which has been granted, the Council will normally seek the voluntary co-operation of those responsible to resolve the issue.

If negotiation fails, the Council can issue an enforcement notice to stop work on the unauthorised development or to secure compliance with the conditions of the planning permission. Failure to comply with an enforcement notice is an offence and the person can be prosecuted and may be subject to a fine.

An appeal can be made against an enforcement notice. When this happens, the notice does not come into force until the appeal is decided. However, in some circumstances, the Council can follow an enforcement notice with a stop notice, which requires that the building work or use is stopped very quickly.

The Council has signed up to the Government's Enforcement Concordat. We have prepared an Enforcement Policy and Procedures document (see link) which you can download.

For more information or if you would like to report a development that may not have permission, contact one the Council's planning enforcement officers in writing or complete an online enquiry form.

January 2011

church lane- coven - mr kill A man who persistently ignored council pleas to tidy up his property has been ordered to pay almost £1,500 by Magistrates.

Mr Clive Kill, of Church Lane Coven, failed to appear in court in Stafford on Friday 7th January 2011 but was found guilty by Magistrates for ignoring a section 215 notice to clean up his property in a case which council officers have described as a “blight” on the village.

Miss Venice Archer-Dyer prosecuting on behalf of South Staffordshire Council told Stafford Magistrates that Mr Kill had inherited the property at Church Lane following the death of his mother.

The court also heard that the council had written to Mr Kill in November 2009 advising him that if the property was not tidied up then they would serve a section 215 notice on him.

A notice was served later that month which gave Mr Kill until April 2010 to tidy up the exterior of the property.

Council officers visited the property in April 2010 to find that no attempt to tidy the property had been made by Mr Kill. The council then wrote to Mr Kill on three separate occasions to try and resolve the ongoing issue.

In August 2010, Mr Kill had still failed to comply with the notice leaving the council with no option but to start court proceedings.

In his absence from court, Magistrates found Kill guilty under section 215 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 for failing to tidy up the property and garden that has fallen into disrepair, which is affecting the amenity of the local area.

Kill was fined £1000 for breaching the original notice on two separate occasions. He was also ordered to pay the council's cost of £432 and a victim surcharge of £15.00