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How does the planning enforcement process work in the Peak District National Park?

National park planners have issued the Peak District Local Enforcement Plan to help people understand what to do if they receive a notice that their building work or change of use breaks planning controls, or if they want to report a suspected breach.

Andrew Cook, Monitoring and Enforcement Manager, explained: “The threat of enforcement action can be distressing, especially when it relates to your home or business, and the process can be difficult to understand, so we hope that the Local Enforcement Plan will help to make things clearer for those involved.

“It’s important to realise that the vast majority of planning breaches are relatively minor and resolved without formal action being taken, although we will take firm action when it is warranted.

“If you are planning to carry out building works or other developments we’d encourage you to work with our planners to prevent problems happening in the first place.  But if problems do occur we are always willing to talk to you to try to reach a resolution.”

The document explains what a breach of planning control is, how to report a suspected breach, the investigation process, criteria used to prioritise cases, in what circumstances the Authority takes action, and what powers it has.

The Peak District Local Enforcement Plan is available online at http://www.peakdistrict.gov.uk/planningenforcement or paper copies are available free – call 01629 816200.

As well as investigating and seeking to resolve planning breaches, monitoring and enforcement officers selectively check sites where planning permission has been granted to see if they comply with the approved plans and conditions.

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Proposed planning reforms threaten national park, says Authority

The Peak District National Park Authority is appealing for exemption from Government proposals to allow farm buildings to be converted to housing, schools or nurseries without planning permission.

The Government is consulting planning authorities across England on its proposals to allow the conversion or demolition of farm buildings to create up to three houses or a state school or nursery without planning permission. It follows recent changes which already allow farm buildings to be converted into shops or offices, and for offices to be turned into homes, without planning permission. (more…)

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Residents, businesses and interest groups are asked to give their views on a range of proposed new planning policies for the Peak District National Park.

The National Park Authority is running a 12-week public consultation on development management policies that will be used to make decisions on planning applications for the next 14 years. The consultation runs from Monday September 24 to Sunday December 16.

Policies in the Development Management consultation document cover: landscape and conservation; housing; shops, services and community facilities; economy; recreation and tourism; utilities; minerals; waste management; transport; and Bakewell. (more…)

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People who cannot get to Peak District National Park HQ during normal office hours can speak to planners at an evening planning surgery on Wednesday November 2.

The National Park Authority has organised the planning surgery from 5pm to 8pm at its head office, Aldern House, Baslow Road, Bakewell, DE45 1AE.

People may seek general advice about a development they have in mind, or discuss one that affects them, or suggest ideas on how planning could help communities.

They can either book 20-minute appointments on 01629 816200 or customer.service@peakdistrict.gov.uk   or they can just drop in and be prepared to wait.

Senior planning officers will be available along with John Herbert, chair of the authority’s planning committee.

John Herbert said: “We want to make it easier for residents to have a face-to-face discussion about a planning issue that concerns them. It’s often difficult for people who have other responsibilities during the day to speak to officers in normal office-hours.

“Officers will be there to advise on individual planning cases which as an authority member I cannot discuss, but I do want to hear residents’ views about planning in general. We’re very keen, as we make improvements in the planning service, that we have as many links with people in local communities as possible.”

Anyone who needs planning advice during office hours can contact the authority’s customer service team or they can see a duty planning officer any weekday between 9.15am and 12.45pm at Aldern House. Phone 01629 816200 or email customer.service@peakdistrict.gov.uk .

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Peak District National Park residents can talk about planning issues with senior planning managers on Tuesday March 29th.

The Peak District National Park Authority has organised a planning surgery at Cliff College, near Calver. Residents can book 20-minute private appointments between 4pm and 8pm to discuss planning cases or suggest ideas on how planning could improve communities.

Any national park resident can book an appointment by contacting the authority’s customer service team on 01629 816200 or customer.service@peakdistrict.gov.uk  before Friday March 25th.  The sessions will be held in the Chatsworth Room at Cliff College, off the A623 Baslow Road.

John Herbert,  chair of the authority’s planning committee said: “This event is an opportunity for any national park resident to have a 20-minute private appointment talking about a planning issue and for us to also learn lessons from past planning cases.

The authority is also keen to hear about past cases or how people think planning can improve community life.

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The Peak District National Park Authority start today their public consultation on their new Core Strategy for the Local Development Framework.  This is the policy document that is used to inform their planning decisions.  The focus of this consultation is on their website, where there is an on-line survey, with various background and ‘preferred option’ documents.

Assimilating all the information and implications of such consultations can be hard work.  Anyone who wants to help summarise the information to ensure as many people as possible are aware of what is being proposed, please let us know either by commenting below or emailing parwich@hotmail.co.uk.   Also sharing comments on the process often helps others clarify their views so please do add your own comments or email them in to create further posts.

It is important that as many Park residents as possible have their say if we are to influence future planning decisions.  The Authority does not always recognise the level of self-employment and the number of small businesses in communities such as ours.  Although it is important to preserve our beautiful scenery and fine old buildings it is also important we ensure the Authority recognises what is required to ensure our communities continue to flourish.

Also increasingly the Authority is relying on the internet for their public consultations, so do let anyone you know, who might want to comment but is not on-line, about this consultation.

For the Authority’s full press release (more…)

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