Cornwall Council’s Planning Enforcement Plan sets out our procedures for dealing with alleged breaches of planning control. It explains how the Council best uses its planning enforcement resources.
Chargeable discretionary services
If the Council has no statutory duty to provide enforcement functions it will look to recover its costs of providing such a service where it can.
We get several requests each month from solicitors and the general public eg whether Enforcement Notices, planning conditions have been complied with etc. These questions are usually requested to be answered at short notice as part of the conveyance process.
The Council publishes a list of planning enforcement notices and outcomes online. You can search for and print details of notices and outcomes on our online planning register.
We offer an expedited service for a fee. This gives a guaranteed response within 10 working days from receipt.
We also offer a further expedited service to assist in resolving issues of unauthorised works discovered through the sale process of a property.
Due to the time pressures of the sale, a quick response is required from the Council as to whether the works are acceptable or not. We will provide a quick decision:
- whether the works constitute a breach of planning control and if so,
- what action, if any, you would need to take to resolve the matter.
You can find the current fees for these services and others in the Additional Services section of our Fees and Charges document: Fees and Charges Document for Planning, Building Control and Land Charges
Advertisement enforcement
We will not normally act against advertisements displayed without consent unless they cause significant harm to amenities or public safety.
The Council will generally support groups advertising local agricultural shows and similar events. Generally, not more than one advertisement should be displayed at any location. They should be restricted to a five-mile radius of the event venue.
The LPA does reserve the right to use its discretion not to act:
- the number of this guidance is exceeded and
- where there is no justification for it.
What if I am dissatisfied with the way the Council managed the report
If, having received the Council’s final response to your enquiry, you are dissatisfied with the way we managed the investigation, you can raise a formal complaint from the Council’s complaint process by completing our online form.
Make a complaint to the CouncilWe will not uphold a complaint about the outcome of an investigation, including whether formal action was taken.
If you are still not satisfied with the Council's final response to your complaint, you can refer the matter to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman. Please note: The Ombudsman will not investigate any complaint until the complainant has:
- first followed the Council’s own corporate complaints procedure and
- sought resolution directly with the Council in the first instance.
Unreasonable customer behaviour
The Council does not normally limit the contact people have with it. This can be whether complaining, making requests for service, information or help and guidance. We are committed to dealing with these requests fairly and impartially. We aim to provide a high quality of service to those who make them. It is keen to resolve any dispute and/or complaint as early as possible.
The level of information that we can provide about an ongoing enforcement investigation is necessarily limited due to the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR).
The Council understands that people sometimes feel frustrated by this. But we will not tolerate unreasonable behaviour.
Examples of unreasonable behaviour could include when a customer:
- abuses or threatens staff or other people
- pursues a personal grudge
- makes unfounded accusations
- makes multiple requests that are very similar or are unreasonably persistent
- adopts a ‘scattergun’ approach. This is pursuing parallel disputes and/or complaint(s) on the same issue with a variety of officers, departments or services.
- makes unnecessarily excessive demands on the time and resources of employees whilst a dispute and/or complaint is being investigated.
Making excessive demands includes:
- making excessive telephone contact or sending emails to numerous Council employees
- writing lengthy complex letters every few days and expecting an immediate response.
When this happens, we will take appropriate steps to limit the customer’s contact with the Council. More information is available on the webpage for our unreasonable customer behaviour policy.