It has emerged through a statement made by a senior officer within the planning department at Westmorland and Furness Council that the council has limited planning enforcement resources available and with planning enforcement subject to high demands across the district.
It has also emerged that Westmorland and Furness council has several hundred planning enforcement cases that council officers are dealing with at any one time.
The council officer has said they “have little time available to undertake basic evidence gathering” and “have to utilise resources carefully as a consequence”.
“The question of costs involved in taking action is something that we have to consider” this “is a reflection of how we have to operate at present.”
Each time a report of a breach is received planning enforcement officers have to grapple the decision of whether it is expedient to take formal action or not.
Over the last few weeks, we have had a number of readers contacting our team about issues around planning and cases reported to the council as enforcement cases where the council has asked the member of the public to keep records and provide clear evidence of alleged breaches because of the Councils limited enforcement resources.
It has also emerged that Westmorland and Furness Council has an open enforcement case against the council itself for works carried out without listed building consent and planning approval at Penrith’s CastlePark.
The council also has a backlog of planning applications awaiting a decision on the applications some dating back over two years originally submits to Eden District Council that Westmorland and Furness Council replaced in April 2023.
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