There is a small bock of flats in my road. The rubbish bins for the property are impeding access along the pavement, also unsightly (in a conservation area).
The development had the following condition: Details of the construction, including facing materials, of the proposed refuse storage chambers shall be submitted to and approved in writing by the local planning authority and the chambes shall be constructed in accordance with the approved details before any of the residential units hereby approved are occupied.
Planning Department tell me that they cannot enforce this because the apparent breach has passed the four year limit for enforcement:
The Planning Enforcement Team would not be able to act at this stage as so many years have elapsed since the original planning permission was granted. The Crime Enforcement and Regulation Service will be able to address the problem of bins blocking the footpath.
Please could someone tell me if my local planning dept is correct, and if they are, what other avenues there are for remedial action? I have not yet contacted the "Crime Enforcement and Regulation Service" (which I have never previously heard of), I thought I'd firstly seek something authoritative from a fool.
Many thanks!