“COUNCILS should not take enforcement action just because there has been a breach of planning control” – according to a local government Ombudsman.

The Ombudsman service – which investigates complaints against Councils, recently published a report into a complaint by a resident over Bradford Council’s apparent failure to deal with an enforcement issue.

A Mr X (all Ombudsman's reports are anonymised) had complained about mud on a road which he says was caused by vehicles accessing a development site.

He told the Ombudsman that there is a condition on the planning permission for that site that requires wheel washing equipment on site and for it to be used by the vehicles.

He said he complained to the Council about the issue in November 2022, but that no enforcement action was taken.

The Council says it had visited the site and saw no mud on the road, and that during a visit in October 2023 there was a wheel washing facility on the development site.

The Ombudsman’s report says: “Councils can take enforcement action if they find planning rules have been breached.

“However, councils should not take enforcement action just because there has been a breach of planning control.

“Planning enforcement is discretionary and formal action should happen only when it would be a proportionate response to the breach.

“I am satisfied that the Council visited the site to check for breaches of planning permission and therefore its conclusion that no action could be taken was one made without fault.”