Fall in construction complaint orders

Perth and Kinross Council has only upheld one out of 129 complaints about alleged unauthorised construction work happening in the region in the past six months, the PA has been told.

Before the coronavirus pandemic hit the UK in March, it had been common for officers to have to take enforcement action against individuals on at least a couple of occasions every few months.

But up until the end of last week, it appeared officers had not served a single notice on anyone in six months as the council’s website showed the last notice they served on someone was dated March 5.

Asked to confirm if this was correct and if enforcement officers had been tasked to investigate any complaints since then, a council spokesperson told the PA:“Enforcement activity can vary over time. More recently, the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic meant the majority of construction activity stopped for a number of months due to lockdown. This drop in activity is likely to be reflected in the number of possible breaches being brought to our attention.

“However, we can reassure the public that the planning enforcement team has continued to work throughout the pandemic, although at times adapting working practices to deal with restrictions associated with COVID-19.

“In line with our enforcement charter , taking formal enforcement action through serving notices is an option we consider carefully and they represent a very small percentage of the cases we investigate.

“Since March 6, we have received and investigated 129 enforcement complaints. This resulted in the serving of one enforcement notice, which has now been uploaded to the PKC website.”