Enforcement Register - Public forum - Planning Advisory Service (PAS)
Open group
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Started - July 2012
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Last activity - Yesterday
Enforcement Register
I wonder whether anyone out there can shed any light on the following. I have been contacted by a local solicitor requesting details of an Enforcement Notice served on the property in October 1956, and whether it was complied with!! Unsurprisingly, I have as yet been unable to find any details regarding this Enforcement Notice. The majority of the enforcement archive prior to the 80's were destroyed in a flood sometime ago, and the enforcement register does not go back that far...so I think they are "out of luck" Out of interest though does anyone know when the requirement to keep an Enforcement Register came into being? Any help would be appreciated, although I don't hold out much hope. Thanks Leigh
The requirement to keep an enforcement register first appeared as s.92A of the T&CP Act 1971. That new section was introduced by the Local Government and Planning (Amendment) Act 1981 and I think became effective on 17/11/1981. There has always however been doubt as to whether the intent was that the register ought to contain details of ALL enforcement notices issued in a particular area even before 1981. On a practical note, if you have no record of a notice there will be no hope of enforcing its requirements and the solicitors question therefore becomes somewhat irrelevant!
There is a major problem in Llandudno Conservation Area at the moment, Conwy BC are insisting that all UPVC windows are replaced even when the Authority gave a grant to refurbish some of them decades ago and officers were happy with the new windows back then. Solicitors and lenders must take care. In this case I would congratulate the solicitor on his attention to detail, his question might appear to be irrelevant but any response needs to close the door on any retrospective action. You can expect more enquiries like this in future when lenders and purchasers dig a lot deeper than ever before. Same goes for planning covenants, conditions and obligations. LPAs need to think about what they do today lest they heap a mountain of paperwork upon their planners in future, more worrying is the issue of missing records as discussed here.
This problem is not just about enforcement registers although I agree that it would be practically impossible to prosecute someone for failing to comply with an enforcement notice if a copy of that notice could not be produced. LPAs also need to keep copies of permissions that bear conditions such as agricultural occupancy. It was too easy to throw away old ledgers to find space in office moves or local government re-organisation. In many cases the land owner may have better information than the LPA and this can lead to problems with enforcement as some will just string you along until you have dug a pit big enough to bury yourself.