Enforcing planning permissions and investigating complaints
Lancashire County Council monitors compliance with planning permissions and investigates complaints in relation to mineral extraction and waste management development. We can also investigate complaints about Lancashire County Council's own development. For complaints about all other types of development such as residential or commercial development, you should contact your local city or borough council.
We have produced a planning enforcement policy which sets out how we will investigate complaints about unauthorised development and other breaches of planning control.
When a member of the public makes a complaint that a mineral extraction or waste management development or Lancashire County Council's own development is in breach of planning control, we will:
- Acknowledge receipt of the complaint within 5 working days identifying the officer who will be dealing with the complaint;
- Investigate the complaint; and,
- Respond to the complainant within 28 days of receipt providing the result of the initial investigation. Further investigation including enforcement action may be necessary beyond this timescale.
Details of complainants will always remain confidential and will never be revealed to the individual(s) under investigation. However, details may be shared on occasion with other regulators such as the Environment Agency or city or borough councils.
If we receive a complaint about Lancashire County Council's own development, we will contact the Chief Officer of the Council department responsible for carrying out the development. If a breach of planning control has occurred, we will request the relevant officer to remedy the breach. Lancashire County Council cannot take enforcement action against itself using the formal enforcement notices listed in the Planning Enforcement Policy.
If you are dissatisfied with the way your complaint has been investigated, you can raise your concerns with the Head of Development Management and Planning Policy or the Head of Planning and Transport. If you still remain dissatisfied with the outcome you can follow Lancashire County Council's complaints procedure.
We have no responsibility for investigating complaints or taking enforcement action in Blackpool or Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council's administrative areas.
If you would like to view Lancashire County Council's current or previous enforcement actions, you can view our online planning enforcement register.
If your complaint is about an unauthorised waste operation (such as tipping or operation of a waste site without an environmental permit) you can also register a complaint with the Environment Agency via their incident hotline. The Environment Agency's hotline can be accessed via their webpage Report an environmental incident (GOV.uk).