Lichfield District Council’s planning officers dedicate a week to reducing backlog in enforcement cases
Planning officers at Lichfield District Council have cleared nearly 200 unresolved enforcement cases after spending the whole of last week working to reduce the backlog.
The caseload had built up over the past year leading to delays in handling cases, complaints, and enquiries regarding planning breaches.
Cases relate to a wide range of issues from development not conforming to planning conditions and untidy land to unauthorised building use and the incorrect positioning of boundary fencing.
The officers’ investigation of planning breaches and enforcement is a quality control check on development, protecting and preserving the environment on behalf of residents.
Last week the council’s entire planning department was focused on reducing the backlog of enforcement cases from nearly 400 open cases, down to 199 remaining.
Artemis Christophi, who leads the planning department at Lichfield District Council, commented:
“During Planning Enforcement Clearance Week we processed cases in the same way as we normally would but by having more officers working together on this service, we were able to substantially reduce the caseload.
“This will help us improve processing speeds and our response times in the weeks ahead.
“We are also putting in place measures to prevent a similar build-up of cases in the future.
“We wish to thank residents for their patience and understanding while this clearance work took place.”
Councillor Alex Farrell, Lichfield District Council’s Cabinet Member for Housing and Local Plan, said:
“Planning enforcement is an important service and I applaud the work our officers did last week in coming together to cut the backlog of cases by around half.
“We encourage any resident with a planning complaint or query to email planenforcement@lichfielddc.gov.uk.”