Herefordshire’s planning system is increasingly letting people get away with unpermitted building work, a senior figure in the county has claimed.

Coun Liz Harvey, leader of the Independents for Herefordshire group on the council, said that breaches of planning permissions and consents “are on the rise” in the county.

Meanwhile, “the number of retrospective planning applications [to gain permission for work already done] to seek consent for works which would likely not have been approved if sought in advance, is worrying,” the Ledbury councillor said.

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“Residents and business need to be seeking permission, rather than retrospective forgiveness. I fear that Herefordshire is turning into the Wild West.”

In a written question to cabinet member for environment Elissa Swinglehurst ahead of a cabinet meeting yesterday (April 25), Coun Harvey asked: “When is the much-promised update of the [council’s] enforcement policy going to be completed?”

“We do maintain an effective enforcement strategy,” Coun Swinglehurst replied.

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The council currently has 418 “open” enforcement cases, and has dealt with over a thousand in the last two years, she said.

“We are taking a proactive approach in seeking to take action where historic buildings that are in disrepair are having a significant negative impact on local communities,” she added.

The revised enforcement local plan is being considered by the council’s recently established planning improvement board, on which Coun Swinglehurst sits alongside the council’s planning committee chair Coun Terry James.

Pressed by Coun Harvey to provide a likely date for adoption of the policy, Coun Swinglehurst said it would likely be this autumn.

A change in government planning policy meanwhile gives councils new powers such as listed building stop notices from this week, Coun Swinglehurst pointed out.