PCC calls for stronger powers to tackle unauthorised developments

Police and Crime Commissioner, Donna Jones, is calling on the government to carry out an urgent review of planning enforcement laws following events at Hares Farm in South Warnborough.

Heavy vehicles and construction materials were brought onto the site on Pickaxe Lane over the August Bank Holiday weekend despite developers not having planning permission.

Hart District Council secured a High Court injunction to prevent further work taking place but it was subsequently breached.

Donna Jones said: “The events at Hares Farm highlight huge flaws in the country’s planning laws and caused considerable concern for people living nearby.

“Residents called the police about their concerns but police officers have very limited powers to stop unauthorised developments getting underway.

“I am not suggesting police officers become planning officers. Planning enforcement should remain the responsibility of local authorities.

“However, there is a strong case for exploring whether police should have limited emergency powers to preserve the status quo in the most serious cases while councils take action.”

The PCC has written to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Angela Rayner, calling on the government to change the law and give police stronger powers, including:

• a new, tightly controlled 72-hour emergency stop power for serious suspected unauthorised development;
• Stronger police powers to support the enforcement of Temporary Stop Notices;
• Proportionate powers relating to vehicles and machinery being used in defiance of planning restrictions;
• A new offence of Aggravated Intentional Unauthorised Development, targeting deliberate attempts to circumvent planning controls;
• Consideration of faster enforcement mechanisms for developments getting underway during evenings, weekends and public holidays.

Ms Jones added: “Residents who follow the planning process reasonably expect others to do the same.

“They also expect the authorities to be capable of intervening when substantial development is deliberately started without permission.

“This should not be about transferring planning enforcement to the police, but it should be a safeguard to ensure in the most serious cases, the police have an emergency lever to pull while the planning authority exercises the powers that properly belong to it.”

These calls are being echoed by the Police and Crime Commissioner for Hertfordshire, Jonathan Ash-Edwards, who has had reports of similar incidents in Hertfordshire over the Easter and August Bank Holiday weekends.