Officers are being urged to get tough on breaches by the Isle of Wight Council’s planning committee.
The committee decided last night (Tuesday) to approve the retrospective planning permission for the Atherfield Bay Holiday Camp development (catch up here), but the extent of the work done without planning permission was branded a step too far by councillors.
Enforcement teams ensure planning permission is being correctly followed and investigate suspected breaches of planning control.
Retrospective applications an “attack on democracy”
Cllr Vanessa Churchman said the Atherfield development was a blatant attack on democracy as the permission, which had been consulted, was now being overridden, with the committee being asked to rubber stamp it.
Councillors then questioned how the authority could stop this from happening again.
37 per cent increase in enforcement complaints
In September last year, the council announced it would look to recruit temporary planning staff to ease the current workload, after an unusually high number of planning and enforcement applications.
The council said it had seen a 37 per cent increase in enforcement complaints during the Covid lockdown.
Fuller: Talking to town, parish and community council
Despite the wish nearly six months ago, cabinet member for planning, Cllr Paul Fuller, said after the meeting yesterday, no officers had been recruited.
Instead, he said, the authority was talking to town, parish and community councils, who were very supportive of the enforcement role and ensuring it was made better.
Part-time enforcement officer
In Newport, the community council is looking to pay for a part-time enforcement officer who only works in the county town and Carisbrooke.
If it is approved in its budget next month, the community council will be paying more than £21,500 for that role.
Cllr Fuller said the proposal at Newport was intended to be a pilot scheme but other councils including Ryde, Sandown and some rural communities were really excited about it.
Fuller: Really good to have town and parish councils onboard
Cllr Fuller said,
“With planning enforcement the way it is, it was always going to be difficult to do what we wanted, but we have the town and parish councils onboard, which is really good.”
Figures from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities show in the year up to September 2021, 16 enforcement actions were undertaken by the Isle of Wight Council, with only five enforcement notices issued.
This article is from the BBC’s LDRS (Local Democracy Reporter Service) scheme, which News OnTheWight is taking part in. Some alterations and additions may have been made by OnTheWight. Ed
Image: Daniel McCullough under CC BY 2.0
