Hyndburn steps up enforcement by prosecuting rule breaker

The action against rule breakers was revealed as part of a regular update from Hyndburn Borough Council, which also detailed the major progress being made with the authority’s enforcement backlog.

In September 2023, the council had 692 open investigations into potential breaches of planning regulations, but as of June this year, this number has almost halved to 383.

This headway being made against the backlog could be seen in the last quarter, where 41 complaints were lodged, but 61 cases were closed.

This is in part due to changes in how Hyndburn classifies potential planning breaches that were brought in as part of the Planning Enforcement Plan, published in December 2025.

These changes saw all planning complaints sifted into four priority categories, with the highest priority cases triggering a visit from the enforcement team within 24 hours of a complaint being registered.

These high-priority cases involve any changes made to listed buildings, development in conservation areas, and any work carried out on trees with a preservation order.

Lower priority cases can take anywhere from 10 to 25 days for a visit from Hyndburn’s enforcement team, with more than half of cases falling into the priority three category, requiring a visit within 20 working days.

These cases were described in the report as being “where harm to the environment, public safety and/or amenity was considered to be minor or caused limited or no demonstrable harm.”

16 metres of fencing was erected, but no one knew who'd put it up

 But while many of these infractions can be resolved through a retrospective planning application or by rectifying the issue, some have chosen to appeal their case to the Planning Inspectorate.

Two of these appeals have been quashed in favour of the council so far this year, including the mysterious fencing-off of a public footpath in Jaucort Street in west Accrington that took place in 2024. This land was then plagued by fly-tipping.

While almost half of the 16 metres of fencing was eventually removed by Lancashire County Council to restore the public right of way, it took until January for the Planning Inspectorate to make a ruling on the case.

Despite appellant Tina Walmsley claiming to own the enclosed land, the inspector said they had “brought forward no evidence to prove such a claim.”

The enclosed public footpath soon became a fly-tipping hotspot (Image: Submitted)

With no action taken to restore the land in the eight months since the appeal was dismissed, Hyndburn’s enforcement update confirmed that legal action is now being taken in relation to the site.

This was then followed by another enforcement appeal being dismissed in June, with the inspectorate backing Hyndburn’s planning team in ruling that a landowner’s decision to concrete over a patch of overgrown land off Wood Street in Church was made without adequate drainage or permission.

The landowner argued that surfacing the area had improved it, but their appeal was dismissed as Wood Street falls within the Church Canalside Conservation Area, and they were ordered to return the land back to its unsurfaced state.

Hyndburn’s enforcement team noted: “Although the compliance period has not yet expired, the case will be closely monitored and, should the requirements of the Notice not be met within the prescribed timescale, prosecution proceedings will be commenced.”