Stafford MP Jeremy Lefroy has been given Parliamentary permission to introduce a 10 Minute Rule Bill to Parliament calling for strict rules to allow planning authorities impose fines on developers who deliberately exceed planning consents.
The Conservative MP said he was aware of several cases in his constituency where developers had ‘blatantly breached planning permission in order to gain an unauthorised advantage, often financial, to the detriment of other local residents’.
He said it was acknowledged that effective enforcement is important as a means of maintaining public confidence in the planning system. ‘But under current rules that confidence is being eroded by underhand developers,’ he said.
He said his legislation would ‘strengthen the hand of local authorities who often feel they have no real sanction other than to require the demolition of all or part of the development. They rarely do this because it is considered disproportionate action. This naturally frustrates law-abiding citizens who themselves apply for planning permission, jump through the hoops and stick to the permission granted; and it brings the planning system into disrepute’.
His legislation, the Planning Permission (Financial penalties) Bill, would permit local authorities to levy fines designed to act as a direct deterrent.
The MP said: ‘By expressly stating in law that local authorities can, and should, levy fines of an amount at least equivalent to the financial gain to the developer of the breach of planning permission the risk inherent in breaking the law in this way would be substantially increased.’
He added: ‘Under my Bill councils would be required to use the proceeds of fines to the benefit of the community in which the breach occurred, restoring public confidence in the planning system and delivering clear results from enforcement action.’
Search Planning Resource: LINK
Search Planning Portal: LINK
