Gloucester: Concern raised over city's pending planning cases

Gloucester City Council has 38 ongoing enforcement cases, figures show

Concerns have been raised over dozens of planning enforcement cases pending at one local authority.

Gloucester City Council has 38 ongoing cases, according to latest council figures.

The council does not have a planning enforcement officer to deal with such issues, following a resignation.

The cabinet member for planning and housing strategy, councillor Stephanie Chambers, said a job advert was going live this month to find a replacement.

At a meeting earlier this month, Lib Dem councillor Jeremy Hilton asked leaders of the Conservative-led authority what was being done while they found a replacement, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service. 

"The city council no longer employs a planning enforcement officer, to deal with breaches of planning regulations. This is because the previous officer holder resigned," he said.

"What is the cabinet member doing to expedite a permanent replacement and what are the current interim measures being taken to progress planning enforcement matters?"

Ms Chambers replied: "In the interim, any planning enforcement cases or new inquiries are being dealt with by the planning officers, who have responsibility for enforcement included in their job descriptions," she said.

At the same meeting, council chiefs revealed that of the 168 full-time office-based staff it employed, only 32 lived in the city.

A total of 102 people live elsewhere in the county, while 34 people live in other parts of the country, the meeting heard.

The city council does not offer a relocation allowance to staff who join them as as full-time permanent employees.

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