Report an alleged breach of planning control

Before reporting an alleged breach of planning control, it is important to firstly consider if planning permission or advertisement consent would be required and if so, if permission has already been granted.

Is permission required?

Some types of development, including extensions, changes of use and the display of advertisement can take place without permission from the local planning authority.

The following guides explain when permission is required:

• Extensions or alterations to a dwelling-house:Permitted development guide (Department for Communities and Local Government)
• Changing the use of land or a building: Changes of use guide (Planning Portal)
• Displaying an advertisement: Advertisements guide (GOV.UK)

Has permission been granted?

If permission is required, you can check our planning applications database to see if permission has been granted by the Council.

Report breach 

If permission is required and has not been granted by the Council, there may be a breach of planning control. In this event, you can report it.

• Report unauthorised building works
• Report a breach of planning condition
• Report unauthorised change of use to land or a building
• Report unauthorised display of an advertisement

All alleged breaches must be submitted using one of the forms above.

The Council has adopted a planning enforcement policy that explains how we investigate reports of unauthorised development, what powers are available to the Council to resolve the breach and what the enforcement process entails.

View the planning enforcement flow chart for an explanation of how we undertake investigations of alleged breaches of planning control.