A COUNCIL bigwig wrote to government bosses expressing concern over planning application fees.

Blackburn with Darwen Council's director of growth and development, Ian Richardson, penned a letter to local government minister, Sajid Javid, asking why a new regulation was not also introduced that applied a higher fee for retrospective planning applications.

Mr Richardson expressed disappointment retrospective fees had not risen alongside the 20 per cent increase to national planning application fees which came into force in January.

He said: "In setting fees for retrospective planning applications, the council wish to highlight to the secretary of state, they must be able to recoup any enforcement costs of facilitating the submission of retrospective applications as well as the costs of determining the application.

"In the current economic climate, where the planning fee income is required to sustain providing an effective and efficient service, the inability to recoup such costs could impact on the council continuing to provide an efficient enforcement service.

"It is possible that higher fees for retrospective applications could deter homeowners and developers from submitting such applications. "Consideration should, therefore, also be given to increasing fees for enforcement appeals to match the increased retrospective applications fees, and to imposing a fee for dealing with the appeal itself in addition to the retrospective application fee.

"Consideration should also be given to penalising those who undertake development requiring planning permission but refuse to submit a retrospective application.

"The local planning authority can decide to take no further action against unauthorised development if it is considered to be not

expedient.

"However, the assessment of such cases are resource intensive. In such cases, developers, by complying with the terms of the enforcement notice, obtain a deemed planning permission at no cost to themselves, but at substantial cost to the local planning authority.

"The council consider one way of alleviating this problem would be for the local planning authority to register a charge on the property which would have to be paid to the local authority when the property is sold."

Replying on Mr Javid's behalf, Muraad Chaudhry of the ministry of housing, communities and local government, said: "Planning fees relate to the cost for a local planning authority to process a planning application.

"A higher fee is not charged for restrospective planning applications as the cost to process these applications is not considered to significantly differ to justify a higher charge.

"Although I cannot reply in any further detail to the points you have raised I would like to assure you that they have been noted."