The Office of the Planning Regulator (OPR) has today, 23 October, published its latest Practice Note – PN05 – Planning Enforcement.
The OPR identified in its Strategic Planning Research Programme 2023-2025 the intention to conduct research into and prepare a practice note on ‘Planning Enforcement’.
The aims of this practice note are to:
- Provide information on the legal context for planning enforcement as set out in Part VIII (Enforcement) of the 2000 Act;
- Examine some key concepts with a particular emphasis on the practical and operational issues of a day-to-day planning enforcement team;
- Provide a legal digest of selected court judgments that relate to planning enforcement; and
- Support new staff and those who have transferred from other sections of local authorities to planning enforcement sections so that they have a baseline understanding of how the planning enforcement system operates.
It is also envisaged that this practice note will have a broader role in informing local authority elected members and senior management of the legal requirements associated with planning enforcement, the management systems and the resources necessary to ensure an effective and efficient enforcement service.
This practice note focuses on warning letters, enforcement notices and the administration and processing of enforcement up to, and including, prosecution in the District Court. High-level reference is also made to proceedings taken in the Circuit or High Courts. This practice note does not address in detail other enforcement powers under Part IV (Architectural Heritage) of the 2000 Act.