Agenda item

Phil Stanley presented a few planning cases with the resolutions and issues faced.

·         Listed building in Wilstone had plastic windows put in, they now have the appropriate windows installed after some time and back & fourth. Photos of new windows and doors were sent in July, the case is to be closed and removed from list – complied

·         A Section 215 notice was served for the untidy appearance of NCP car park Hemel with listed mural on side , they have now tidied the frontage and it’s looking better, they will soon move on to the flank and continue with the improvements.

·         At the A5 old Watling Street there has been construction of a building, erection of gabion walls, widening of an existing access and formation of two vehicular access points and roadways within the site. An enforcement notice has been issued.

·         At Upper Bourne end lane there has been outbuildings in field built, the field has been subdivided into smaller plots which could be further sold and subdivided. We have served a notice on the clad shipping containers that are on green belt, we have issued notice to remove, this has been appealed, were now awaiting the start of appeal.

Philip Stanley explained that three quarters of notices are appealed, we need to be mindful of the workload that appeals place on the team.

·         Finally the willows Potton hill they have placed solar panels in the field which can be seen from the road, it’s tricky as were all in favour on renewable energy however they are very prominent feature in the field, the owner is looking to relocate within their garden, this will be more appropriate.

Philip Stanley spoke about the recent work planning enforcement are doing in order to cut high case levels after lockdown:

They have had difficulty in undertaking site visits, he explained they have split the borough into 5 areas, and focus on each areas over a 3 week period.

Hemel has a 4 week period of focus due to size. Area 1 has been complete, every site visit that was in this area outstanding has been done. We wrapped up a number of cases, and next steps have been taken in the other areas.

Area 2 Berkhamsted, the same process will take place, the team will focus on this whilst they can with a further lockdown now in place.

Once they have completed the full review, all outstanding cases will have been reviewed, formal action will have been taken and have a clearer picture on the priorities.

Philip Stanley explained if were not visiting areas and members wonder why, this is not because we don’t want to, it’s just not in its planned 3 week period yet. However urgent cases will still be looked at.

Councillor Hobson asked about how appeals are going and if Covid has delayed anything going to court, is it taking a longer time?

Phillip Stanley responded that appeals are dealt with by planning inspector and that sadly before Covid there were delays with enforcement appeals,  the focus has been with planning application appeals and housing appeals, typically these can take 6-9 months and there’s not really been any change as a result of Covid. They are holding virtual hearings in place now, which have been a success so he not expecting them to increase in time as a result of Covid.

Philip Stanley explained Nargis Sultan Is probably better placed to advise on the courts and if they are experiencing delays.

Nargis Sultan advised the situation is that unfortunately due to Covid, they are having to prioritise cases, they are putting cases into categories for examples 1 2 3, 1 being most important, such as environmental issues etc. It is taking a bit longer, we’ve just had a TPO prosecution that took a considerable amount of time. She stated the situation remains the same with a current backlog.

Councillor Hobson asked for an update about the cottages on St Johns Road that have had the plastic windows, how the conversations are going with the housing team. She explained there was press recently by a neighbour, she took the lead rather than contact the council.

Philip Stanley advised Housing have provided drawings for the new windows and the officer is happy with them, they moving onto manufacture & install stage, this is estimated for January- February.

Councillor McDowell asked why the decision was made to divide up into areas as it was causing issues with his constituents, they had reported to him they cannot have visits for 6 weeks. It’s difficult to explain that to residents and asked to know the reason so he could explain to them.

Philip Stanley responded that if it’s a new enforcement identified as priority 1 they will go outside of the 3 weeks period, any non-priority will fall into the 3 week period. There is a 10 year time period in which to enforce so were not going to fall outside of the enforcement period. He explained that they have split site visits for efficiency, enabling them to be in the same area at the same time, doing this will generate a clear picture of all outstanding issues, and where they need to focus the resource also to understand the caseload, remove any deadwood and understand what’s needed going forward.

James Doe added to what Philip Stanley said, he explained Covid has caused a backlog, due to safety with site visits. This is no fault of case officers, Covid has caused this, and they need to make hard choices to cover the case load, use a systematic way of dealing with the backlog after having reviewed the risk assessments. They are visiting where we can and it won’t be this way forever. He mentioned they will review when complete. Also they are looking at resources within the team, reviewing budgets at the moment.

Councillor Beauchamp thanked Phil for his work and asked when you are doing sweep of their areas, can you let councillors know so we can be prepared when we get questions, useful when they are covering their ward.

Philip Stanley agreed and said he can send a timeline to Corporate and Democratic Support to send to members.