Forum Topic

Building work continuing without planning permission

Wondering if anyone has any advice as to how to get Hounslow Council to act and stop building work on premises on Devonshire Road which are continuing without planning permission? Planning permission has been applied for but not yet approved. The premises in question is the MiniCab office which has put in a change of use application to become a restaurant with garden/patio at the back. So far, no one from the council's planning office will return our calls. Any advice greatly appreciated.

Anna Dale ● 2068d12 Comments

AnnaIs Devonshire Road in Turnham Green Ward ? If so suggest you contact your Ward Councillors, if not find out what Ward you're in and contact the relevant Councillors

Loraine Pemberton ● 2068d

That's a very good idea, Loraine, thank you. I will look into that.

Anna Dale ● 2068d

Chiswick Homefields wardCllr Patrick Barrpatrick.barr@hounslow.gov.uk07976 703263Cllr Gerald McGregorgerald.mcgregor@hounslow.gov.uk07866 784821Cllr John Toddjohn.todd@hounslow.gov.uk07866 784651

Jennifer Selig ● 2068d

AnnaI've emailed youJohn

John Todd ● 2068d

Thank you so much Jennifer

Anna Dale ● 2068d

Don't get your hopes up. We had a similar situation about two years ago with neighboring works being done that included a change of use. The permission came after the fact.

David Lesniak ● 2068d

It is possible to apply for retrospective planning approval. The same planning rules apply and if what you have erected is non-compliant you will be required to remove it at your own expense. If you do not the council will take it down and charge you for the cost of demolition.

Cllr Sam Hearn ● 2067d

'The same planning rules apply and if what you have erected is non-compliant you will be required to remove it at your own expense. If you do not the council will take it down and charge you for the cost of demolition.'And pigs will fly - trying to get planning enforcement to vist over a contravention in a conservation area brought forth the response - 'enforcement is not an essential service' and of course the inevitable Covid. It's a joke.

Vanessa Smith ● 2067d

Vanessa - I have seen a few planning enforcement pigs fly in Chiswick over the years. It does happen and there is usually great wailing and gnashing of teeth and anguished cries of "the guy next door did the same thing so why can't I" and "Magna Carta ... did she die in vain".  As I think you know there is a four year period in which the council can enforce the removal of a structure erected without planning permission if it is non-compliant.

Cllr Sam Hearn ● 2067d

VS: "And pigs will fly - trying to get planning enforcement to vist over a contravention in a conservation area brought forth the response - 'enforcement is not an essential service' and of course the inevitable Covid. It's a joke."I can think of one example of porcine aviation, not so long ago and not so far away:http://www.chiswickw4.com/default.asp?section=leisure&page=bellandcrownrooftopterrace008.htm

Richard Cathcart ● 2067d

Cllr Sam Hearn, what are the chances of a structure being taken down after the fact?Surely the point is, how is it allowed that something can be currently under construction and with a change of use without planning permission in the first place.

Anna Dale ● 2067d

Because that's how the planning legislation is, and indeed always has been.As I've pointed out on this forum many times, to breach planning control isn't illegal (save for works to a listed building or protected trees) but rather it is 'unauthorised'.Local Authorities are advised (and have always been advised) to take formal enforcement action as a last resort, and in all but the most serious cases the perpetrator should be given an opportunity to either remedy the breach or to regularise the breach by way of a retrospective application.The only mechanism to enable a local authority to get unauthorised works to cease is by way of either a stop notice or injunction, but again the legislation is very clear that such action should only be taken in cases where the breach is causing irreversible and significant harm.The chances of a breach of planning control being the subject of formal enforcement action after the unauthorised act has already been completed depends solely upon the expediency of taking enforcement action, which is essentially the same as whether planning permission would be granted for the unauthorised development or not.  The fact the development has already been completed isn't part of the assessment of expediency, and Hounslow and every other planning enforcement team at local authorities take such action on a regular basis.The bigger problem, which affects every enforcement team in the country and which Vanessa alludes to, is that, rightly or wrongly, planning enforcement is not classed as an 'essential service', and thus a function which has always struggled to cope with the volume of investigations continues to suffer as government funding further declines.Whilst I will concede that often individual Officers and local authorities as a whole often don't do themselves any favours, at the same time as I know only too well working in planning enforcement is a thankless task, reflected in how there are now so few qualified professional planners working within planning enforcement.Indeed, there's an interesting article about the current 'state' of planning enforcement, written by the current Chair of the National Association of Planning Enforcement Officers at the link below :https://www.rtpi.org.uk/blog/2021/february/are-planning-enforcement-teams-under-threat/

Adam Beamish ● 2067d