Dartford Planning Enforcement Plan

What you can expect from the Dartford Planning Enforcement service

In general

  • The Council will take account of the concerns of its residents whilst upholding the requirements of the NPPF - that enforcement action will be expedient and proportionate to the alleged breach.
  • Everyone (Informants and those persons suspected of a breach) will receive the same standard of courteous and impartial professional service at all times;
  • The Council will deal with breaches of planning control in a manner reflecting the degree of harm caused and in accordance with the priorities set out above;
  • Proven breaches which cause significant harm will be vigorously pursued, and where necessary, the Council will take formal action appropriate, proportionate and commensurate to the breach and follow this through to a suitable conclusion.

Persons suspected of a breach of planning control

  • The Council will write to the owner/occupier/interested party and state clearly the alleged breaches of planning control that have been identified, the options available, the timescales involved to resolve breaches and what will happen if compliance is not achieved;
  • The Council will give the owner/occupier/interested party an initial opportunity to resolve matters expeditiously through negotiation, unless the breach is causing such harm that immediate  formal action is invariably necessary;
  • Where the Council invite a retrospective application/serve an Enforcement Warning Notice, providing the application is submitted/responded to within the timescale set, it will usually not be expedient to take formal enforcement action at that stage. However, under some circumstances, if the breach is deemed to cause significant planning harm, formal enforcement action will be pursued regardless of the status of any current planning submission.
  • The Council will advise the owner/occupier/interested party in writing when a decision is taken to authorise formal enforcement action. There are exceptions to this such as where a pre-emptive Injunction is required or a Temporary Stop Notice served in advance of an Enforcement Notice.

Enforcement Register

A statutory register of Enforcement Notices served by Dartford Borough Council from 1992 to date. The Council has a statutory duty to keep this up to date. 

Please contact Planning Enforcement to arrange access to enforcement details prior to 1992 as these are usually in hard copy only.