Planning Enforcement and Monitoring Plan

This plan explains how Buckinghamshire Council investigates and responds to breaches of planning control. It outlines the enforcement process, priorities, and how decisions are made.

Residents, developers, Parish and Town Councils, and anyone interested in understanding how planning enforcement works.

• What constitutes a breach of planning control
• How reports are handled
• When enforcement action is taken
• Roles of other departments and agencies
• Monitoring and proactive enforcement

1.1 An effective Planning Compliance & Enforcement Service plays a key role in upholding the integrity of the planning process and provides an important contribution to maintaining public confidence in the planning system.

1.2 The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) encourages Local Planning Authorities to publish a local enforcement plan to appropriately manage planning enforcement matters in their area.

1.3 Buckinghamshire Council has decided to adopt a Local Enforcement and Monitoring Plan to set an overview of the service and an understanding of the planning enforcement function within the overall planning service.

1.4 This plan sets out the way in which Buckinghamshire Council will investigate alleged breaches of planning control and how decisions on formal enforcement action will be made.