Reporting a breach of planning control
If you wish to report an issue for our team to investigate, please complete the Planning Enforcement Complaint Form.
Please ensure that all parts of the form are completed in full before submitting along with any photographs of the alleged breach of planning control.
The form and photographs can be submitted via email, post or hand delivered to the Council Offices using the contact details below.
Email: planningenforcement@sstaffs.gov.uk
Postal address
South Staffordshire Council
Wolverhampton Road
Codsall Wolverhampton
WV8 1PX
What happens after reporting the breach?
Once a case has been registered and allocated to an Officer, you will receive a case reference number. All investigations for this case will take place under the reference number provided.
The Officer will then commence their inquiries gathering the relevant information to aid their investigation; this may include a site visit to the location in question. The Officer will begin negotiations with the relevant parties in connection with the alleged breach of planning control; if a breach is identified the Officer will work towards remedying the breach.
How long will the investigation take?
Investigations can take anything from a few days to several months if we need to monitor or carry out in-depth research. Once we have visited the site we will:
- Inform you of our initial findings
- Advise you what actions are required
- Set a timescale in which to carry out any requirements
- Keep you informed at key stages
If there is no breach of planning control, we will inform you and close the case.
Are your details kept confidential?
Under the Data Protection Act the name and address of a person making a complaint or any other contact details, will not be disclosed.
If you have been asked to collect evidence to support your complaint, the Council may wish to use this to demonstrate that there has been a breach of planning control. Such evidence carries more weight if presented by the person who collected it and you may be asked if you are prepared to contribute to an appeal, but you are in no way obliged to do so. Most complaints are resolved without the need for formal action, so in most cases giving evidence will not be necessary.
Formal notices that are served on all interested parties in breach of planning regulations are public documents.
We do not investigate anonymous complaints, particularly if the issues complained about are unclear.