Town and Country Planning Act 1990 section 215

The request was partially successful.

Dear Cannock Chase District Council,

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION REQUEST

Re: Town and Country Planning Act 1990 section 215

Dear Sirs

Could you please provide the following information under the
Freedom of Information Act 2000:

In each of the last 5 calendar years and in the year to date
(reporting each year separately):

a) How many complaints has the Council received in respect of
properties where one potential response to the complaint would be
the issue of a section 215 notice or the issue of a warning letter
prior to the issue of a section 215 notice
b) How many warning letters were the Council minded to issue
c) How many warning letters were issued
d) How many section 215 notices has the Council issued
e) Of those section 215 notices issued, how many have been
appealed
f) What is the current status of the section 215 notices issued
(resolved/outstanding/appealed/ etc)
g) What is the Councils budget in respect of section 215 notices
for each year and what was the expenditure actually incurred for
each year
h) How many days of officer’s time has been taken up considering
and dealing with section 215 notices and consideration of matters
where a section 215 notice may be an appropriate response
i) Was the issue of section 215 notices subject to the Scheme of
Delegation for each of those years, and if so, to whom was the
power to issue section 215 notices delegated
j) Has the Council at any time in committee or sub-committee
debated or considered its policy on section 215 notices and could
you provide copies of any minutes where a section 215 notice is
mentioned

Please provide a copy of the Council’s currently agreed policy on
section 215 notices and the date and copies of the minutes of the
meeting where this policy was adopted.

Please provide a copy of the Planning Enforcement register for each
of the last five calendar years and the year to date.

Yours faithfully,

Peter C. Bell

Info Manager, Cannock Chase District Council

Thank you for your email.

 

If it is in regard to a Freedom of Information request you will receive a
response from us within 20 working days of the date of this email.

 

Thank you

Information Manager

Cannock Chase Council

 

show quoted sections

Info Manager, Cannock Chase District Council

Dear Mr Bell

 

Thank you for your request for information.

 

We are happy to supply below, the information that we hold in relation to
your request.

 

A   2010  8 Possible Notices

     2011  4 Possible Notices

     2012  6 Possible Notices

     2013  6 Possible Notices

     2014  4 Possible Notices

     2015  3 Possible Notices to date.

 

B   2010  15 Warning letters

     2011    9 Warning letters

     2012  11 Warning letters

     2013  13 Warning letters

     2014  11 Warning letters

     2015    7 Warning letters to date.

 

C   This is exactly the same as B

 

D  2010  5 Notices issued

    2011  1 Notice issued

    2012  3 Notices issued

    2013  2 Notices issued

    2014  2 Notices issued

    2015  1 Notice issued to date.

 

E  None of the Notices have been subject to an appeal

 

F  The Notice issued earlier this year takes effect on 18^th September
with 28 days from that date to comply so it is currently  

    outstanding.

 

G  There is not a separate budget for Section 215 Notices and therefore it
is impossible to advise on expenditure.

 

H  The answer to this would be dependant on how many complaints were
received and whether a Notice had to be served.

     I would estimate that a site visit and one letter would take
approximately 1 hour. A site visit and 2 letters 1.5 hours.

     A site Notice 2 letters followed by the serving of a Notice and a
further visit to ensure compliance would be roughly 1 day    

     Including solicitor time. If this resulted in a prosecution I would
estimate 3 days.

 

I    All Section 215 Notices are subject to delegation by the Planning and
Economic Development Services Manager.

 

J    The Councils Planning Committee delegated the decisions regarding
Section 215 Notices approximately 15 years ago    

      and therefore there are no minutes available.

 

      The Council do not have a written policy on Section 215 Notices as
each complaint is judged on its merits.However the

      Council does use guidance and advice given in a booklet provided by
the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister called the

      Town and Country Planning Act 1990 Section 215 Notice Best Practise
Guidance.

 

      Section 215 Notices are not copied onto the Enforcement register.
Only Enforcement Notices are in the register which

      Is kept in Legal Services.

 

If you have any queries relating to how your request has been handled in
relation to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 please feel free to
contact me.

 

You can also complain to the Information Commissioner at:

Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

Telephone:   01625 545 700

www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk

 

Yours sincerely,

 

 

Information Manager

Cannock Chase Council

 

 

show quoted sections

Peter C. Bell left an annotation ()

Enforcement register not provided. This is kept in legal services.