Thousands lodge complaints over alleged planning rule breaches

Hundreds of planning enforcement notices have been handed out in Leeds to developers and homeowners who have flouted local planning legislation.

Planners have issued 276 enforcement notices over the last two years after receiving more than 3,800 complaints of possible breaches. Complaints include developments which do not have the correct planning permissions or have been built differently from approved plans.

Some of the most severe cases could see people forced to tear down buildings that do not have the correct planning permission.

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Grade II listed The Red Pepper Restaurant, in Otley, was told to remove a canopy and adverts two years ago after the council claimed “unauthorised alterations” had been carried out.

Notices have also been served on an unauthorised builder’s compound in Kings Road, in Bramhope, and the owners of a property in Spen Lane, West Park, were told to lower the height of a wall.

Owners of a listed building in Main Street, Shadwell, were told by the authority to remove and replace their roof slates.

Coun Peter Gruen, executive board member for neighbourhoods, planning and support services, said: “The council takes breaches of planning control very seriously and relies, in part, on the public reporting any suspected breaches.”

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Last year it was reported a demolition notice was served on a building blocking sunlight from a neighbour’s house.

The problem building, in Moor Knoll Gardens, in East Ardsley, was built higher and wider than it should have been. Developers Mandale appealed against the decision.

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