East Suffolk Council
Planning enforcement
The main purpose of planning enforcement is to investigate alleged contraventions of planning control and, where appropriate, to negotiate or pursue formal enforcement action.
Examples of alleged breaches of planning control
- Building an extension or making alterations to a building without planning permission if it is needed
- Unauthorised works to listed buildings or protected trees
- Breach of conditions attached to a planning permission
- Unauthorised display of advertisements
- Unauthorised change of use of building or land
- Untidy land
Some works can be carried out without needing permission and wouldn't be classed a breach. The Interactive Planning Portal will help you identify what these are.
Matters we do not investigate
- Private Civil Matters such as:
- Deeds and covenants
- Loss of property value or loss of view
- Boundary/land ownership and private rights of access or other neighbour disputes
- Right to light issues
- Internal alterations to houses (unless it is a listed building)
- Damage to property (unless a listed building)
- Enforcement of the Building Regulations
- Parking on the highway or other concerns relating to Civil parking enforcement » East Suffolk Council or Traffic regulation orders » East Suffolk Council
- Health and safety issues – Workplace health and safety enforcement is the joint responsibility of the East Suffolk Council Food and Safety Team and the Government's Health and Safety Executive (HSE).
- Clearing of vegetation from land, unless:
- A planning permission has been implemented and the planning permission included conditions requiring the retention of trees or hedgerows.
- If you believe unauthorised works are being undertaken on trees in Conservation Areas or protected by Tree Preservation Orders, check if they are affected by those designations via the Geographic Information System » East Suffolk Council. You can also check if consent has been given for such works via Simple Search (eastsuffolk.gov.uk) , using the address or searching via the map. If unauthorised works are being undertaken on trees in Conservation Areas or protected by Tree Preservation Orders, you should report them to our Trees and Landscape Team.
- Issues relating to existing hedgerows unless they meet the criteria to be a ‘High Hedge’ or are covered by the Hedgerow Regulations 1997
- Compliance with Licences
- Matters relating solely to the emission of noise and smells. These should be directed to Environmental Protection.
- Matters relating solely to the issue of fly-tipping or abandoned vehicles
Statutory Register
The statutory registers for enforcement, stop and breach of condition notices can be viewed by appointment. To arrange an appointment please contact our Planning Enforcement Team.
Report a breach of planning regulations or make an appeal
Please Note: We do not process anonymous reports or those where contact details are falsified. Cases will not be progressed if we are unable to verify a reporters email address or phone number.
| Report a possible breach of planning control |
| East Suffolk Local Enforcement Plan |
| Make an appeal against a planning or enforcement decision |