New crackdown on planning rule abusers in Barnsley funded with Government cash

The Government’s primary aim is to protect the Green Belt but the bidding process was competitive, meaning Barnsley Council had to justify why it deserved the support.Head of Planning Joe Jenkinson told councillors on the authority’s planning board that the authority’s resources for enforcement were now “quite thin”, with attention being focused on the most high profile cases.The council has been willing to enforce action over breaches of planning, however, and take action itself where those involved had failed to abide by rulings.A recent example involved Cawthorne Club, in Tivydale, where a raised platform had been constructed over a beck, to provide a drinking and seating area.That was ruled to need planning consent and an enforcement notice, obliging the club to remove the structure, was issued earlier in the summer.When the deadline for that work was missed, the council sent in contractors to complete the job and Mr Jenkinson told councillors that had been done in a “proficient” manner.The club had since been sent a bill for the cost of the work, he said.In the last three months, 130 cases have been presented to the council requesting enforcement action, with 54 of those now resolved and the rest remaining under consideration.