Letter: News of Successful Planning Enforcement is Heartening

Published on: 3 Oct, 2018
Updated on: 3 Oct, 2018

From: Mary Adkins

In response to: Council Announces Successful Planning Enforcement Action in Wake of Council Leader’s Criticism

It’s very heartening to hear about successful planning enforcement by Guildford Borough Council. This story shows that landowners who ignore planning law can indeed suffer the consequences–and gain a criminal record as well as a hefty financial penalty.

The borough’s enforcement team deserves praise for their dogged determination in these successful cases. Officers are rarely shown appreciation for undertaking a difficult job with limited resources.

We so often hear about landowners “getting away with it”; this proves that successful enforcement action is possible. Let’s hope we see more of these cases, perhaps then landowners will get the message that planning law has some teeth after all.