DORSET Council is dealing with 900 enforcement cases for breach of planning rules – 400 of them more than two years old, 80 more than five-years-old.

Of the 400, a total of 170 cases are more than four-years-old, some of which may become immune from prosecution because of the length of time it has taken to deal with.

Some 80 cases still on the books pre-date the creation of Dorset Council in 2019, having been started by the former county council and district and borough councils.

The statistics were produced after complaints from some councillors that many who flout the rules never have action taken against them when the breach planning consent, or built without consent at all.

The council’s opposition Conservative group leader, Cllr Andrew Parry, claimed the situation made a mockery of planning enforcement; other councillors telling of cases which has been dragging on for years, with planning agents knowing exactly how to hamper any action being taken against their clients.

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The figures were given to councillors by the manager for development and enforcement, Ann Lee.

She told the Place and Resources Scrutiny Committee that staff efforts were being concentrated on the older cases and agreed the current backlog was “challenging”, adding that she was asking for additional budget for the next financial year to tackle the backlog.

The enforcement team at the council equates to 12 full time posts, but currently has less than that, with a legal cases budget of £40,000 a year.

Cabinet member for planning, Wimborne Minster councillor Shane Bartlett, said in a normal year the team would expect to deal with around 500 cases of alleged planning breaches, a large proportion of which are resolved through negotiation, the council’s first step.

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“The current workload for the team is too high and it’s important that the backlog is reviewed and reduced,” said Cllr Bartlett, who said he hoped to see “meaningful progress” over the coming year.

Cllr Andrew Parry told the meeting he was not surprised that the council seldom used litigation when the legal budget for the department was so small.

Ms Lee said she didn’t believe the budget was a constraint but said there would always be a ‘public interest’ test applied before taking any legal action. She admitted that just one significant enforcement appeal inquiry would swallow up the entire current annual budget and, possibly, more.

Cllr David Tooke (Cranborne & Alderholt Lib Dem), who chairs the council’s eastern area planning committee, said it was crucial to restore public faith in enforcement.

“I constantly get people saying there is no point to enforcement because what you do is just end up going along with whatever they have done. That’s not true, but it’s a perception and we do need to address that,” he said.