Local Enforcement Plan
As of January 2025, Winchester City Council’s Local Enforcement Plan has been revised following workshops with Local Parish Representatives led by our Cabinet Member for Place and the Local Plan Cllr Jackie Porter.
The plan has been redrafted to address the issues raised and better reflect the preferred approach set out at Parish workshops.
The revised Local Enforcement Plan public consultation has now closed.
The current Winchester District Local Enforcement Plan was adopted on the 1st July 2020. This followed consultation with City Councillors and Parish Councils. It was agreed by Cabinet in May 2020.
The plan aims to manage enforcement proactively, in a way that is appropriate to our district. The 2020 plan sets out how the city council will monitor the implementation of planning permissions, investigate unauthorised developments and take any necessary action.
Your council is committed to the protection and enhancement of the natural and built environments at all stages of the planning process. Compliance with, and respect for that, process are both essential and expected, and the council will not condone wilful breaches of planning control.
While enforcement action will always need to be proportionate, there are a number of steps we can take if planning processes are not followed including legal action.
Every effort is made to resolve inadvertent or minor breaches through discussion and retrospective applications. More serious breaches which are causing harm to amenity or the environment are likely to result in positive enforcement action. We also have a planning service to advise people or organisations in advance of formal planning applications. Information regarding the Pre-Application Service can be found here.
If you have any queries or need to report a planning issue, please use the Planning Enforcement Report Form.