Villages want to see work checked

NEARLY half of all parish councils in Mid Devon support a petition that the district authority should do more to ensure planning conditions are upheld.

A total of 19 out of 50 parishes hold the view that Phoenix House officials should have a process in place to make sure plans are legally developed.

Cullompton Town Council approached village halls, from as far as Woolfardisworthy and Clayhidon, over concerns that Mid Devon District Council “appears” to have no monitoring procedures in place.

Judy Morris, Cullompton town clerk, said: “We hope the council will start to look at whether there is a way to monitor planning conditions or maybe find out what other planning authorities do.

“The big concern is if they employ somebody to check the conditions then that would cost money, and where will that money come from?

“Mid Devon put conditions on but they don’t do checks to make sure they are adhered to, so people can do what they want.

“It’s pointless putting a condition on if you are not going to check if it is being abided by,” Mrs Morris added.

Cadeleigh Parish Council said the district council is “incredibly slow” in investigating breaches of planning conditions, even when reported. Crediton Hamlets said it was pleased another council is taking up the matter while Morchard Bishop said there is “exasperation, annoyance and frustration over continuing failures of enforcement officers.”

Although Mrs Morris did not get a reply from every parish council, she said she was “very, very pleased” with the response and added that some went to “great lengths” to inform them of their experiences.

The district council welcomes the public to inform officers of possible breaches as it doesn’t have the resources to monitor every building site.

Jonathan Guscott, head of planning and regeneration at Mid Devon District Council, said at a meeting in Cullompton in July, that enforcement action is a last resort and some sites are “not so critical they need to be visited immediately”. He said enforcement is a “long and drawn out process” and that only three officers cover 360-square miles.

There are in excess of 2,180 development sites in Mid Devon and about 1,000 started within the past 12 months.

He said that Neil Parish, MP for Tiverton and Honiton, should be lobbied for law changes.

Mr Guscott said: “There is no way we know when a development commences because there is no requirement in law to notify a planning authority they are actually starting work.

“Quite often, we have conditions which are required on completion or before the property is brought into use. The coalition should make it a statutory requirement to notify planning authorities, and town and parish councils, prior to work starting.”

The petition will be discussed at a meeting of Mid Devon District Council’s planning meeting tomorrow afternoon.