The division provides services that actively promote the enhancement and protection of the environment in terms of community safety, health and well-being, and the quality of the built and natural environment. It comprises of the following sections:
Planning Control
The Planning Control section works with Urban Environment colleagues to protect, conserve and enhance the borough’ s assets and to ensure development proceeds in the public interest. Development Control is a forward facing, customer-orientated section with an emphasis on delivering high quality lasting development on the ground with the objective of regenerating the Borough.
We deal with over 2000 planning applications a year, and the sections work is the end result of the process started in Planning Policy, (assessing development against the Unitary Development Plan and Black Country Core Strategy), and is the regulatory stage before Building Control. The team not only determines planning applications and represents the Council at planning appeals they also proactively provide business friendly planning advice and guidance to the public, interest groups and applicants to add value to the process.
The section also includes an Enforcement team (who proactively and reactively enforce breaches of planning control and provide advice) in addition to a Tree Team, (who deal with the applications for works to protected trees and high hedges and provide advice on development proposals).
Building Control
The Building Control Control Section carries out the Council's statutory duty of applying Building Regulations. The Building Regulations are essentially a set of minimum building standards which provide acceptable levels of health and safety for people including those who are disabled, who live, work, visit or are in the vicinity of buildings. It is the responsibility of the Building Control Division to enforce the Building Regulations and other relevant allied legislation. This means assessing proposed work to ensure compliance and inspecting work on site as it progresses at certain stages to ensures that buildings are safe, energy efficient and have reasonable access for all.
The service provides advice to developers and builders and seeks to deliver a quality Building Control service in direct competition with the Private Sector.
Historic Environment
The Historic Environment team works to protect, conserve and enhance the borough’ s historic environment. They do this by providing advice and guidance and in particular planning advice, relating to all aspects of the borough’ s heritage. This includes 700 statutorily and locally listed buildings and 21 conservation areas.
Historic environment prides itself on having a proactive approach to regeneration through conservation. It carefully records the borough’ s heritage and maintains the council’s Historic Environment Record (HER), which holds details of all of the borough’ s heritage assets.
Trading Standards
The Trading Standards section ensures that the quality, quantity, price and safety of goods and services comply with consumer legislation. This it achieves by inspection and enforcement activities at commercial premises throughout the Borough and the provision of consumer advice to the general public. The team also carry out regular testing of weighing and measuring equipment, check on goods vehicles for overloading and ensure that cigarettes, alcohol and fireworks are not sold to children. The service through its work with partners contribute to delivering the Health Inequalities Strategy.
Food and Occupational Safety
The Food and Occupational Safety team ensures the provision of clean, safe food and water, safe places of work and an environment free from statutory nuisances. This it achieves by inspection, food safety and health and safety enforcement at commercial premises within the Borough. In addition they provide advice and education on food safety, health and safety and infectious disease matters, investigate noise pollution from commercial premises, investigate infectious disease cases and respond to some 3500 requests for service each year. It acts as a statutory consultee on applications for premise licenses under the Licensing Act 2003. The service also involves a animal health which includes inspecting and licensing premises where animals are housed, sold or bred to prevent spread of disease between animals and humans, and to ensures satisfactory standards of animal welfare exist. The Service has a Health and Occupational Safety Team which combines health improvement projects together with Health and Safety enforcement. This service works with partners to deliver the Food Action Plan which underpins the Obesity Strategy and positively contributes to the delivery of the Health Inequalities Strategy.
Environmental Protection
The Environmental Protection deals with the control of domestic smoke emissions and emissions and noise from industrial premises, specifically implementing the provisions of pollution, prevention and control at prescribed processes. It also monitors air quality throughout the Borough and manages air quality through the declaration of air quality management areas and the implementation of air quality action plans. Through a specialist Land Team the identification and remediation of contaminated land is undertaken in accordance with the Councils Contaminated Land Inspection Strategy. Environmental advice is also given to Planning Services applications.
Key Facts and Figures:
-
2000+ Planning Applications processed per year
-
200 Listed Buildings
-
20 Conservation Areas
-
2000 Building control applications per year resulting in 9000 site inspections
-
8000 Land Charge searchers processed per year
-
150 sites across borough monitored for Air Quality
-
2,735 requests for Consumer (trading standards) advice per year
-
1,000 contaminated land enquires per year
-
119 authorised premises inspected for pollution compliance per year
-
5,000 requests for advice and help on public health matters per year
-
600 cases of infectious disease investigated per year
-
2,100 food premises for inspection
-
5,600 commercial premises for health and safety inspection
Key Issues
-
Recruitment and retention of qualified officers, particularly regulatory officers i.e. Planning, Environmental Health and Trading Standards. LGA and Local Authorities lobbying to raise the profile of issues and attract central government funding.
-
Introduction of new planning regime particularly in relation to Local Development frameworks, neighbourhood planning and Planning Control processes.
-
Successful regeneration of Borough, requiring more input from Planning and Building Control Services to underpin development e.g. Brierley Hill and Castle Hill.
-
Delivering services electronically to provide efficiencies and easy access for applicants.
-
Increasing numbers of commercial properties in Borough requiring inspection.
-
Growing consumer base with greater awareness of consumer rights.
-
The confirmation of a Borough wide air quality management area and the drafting and implementation of a Borough wide air quality action plan to deal with areas of poor air quality, especially relating to traffic pollution.
-
The identification following risk assessment of contaminated land requiring investigation and remediation. This will be an ongoing and increasing workload.
Divisional Achievements
-
Delivery of the Black Country Core Strategy.
-
Designation of Brierley Hill as a new strategic town centre for the Borough.
-
Royal Town Planning Institute West Midlands Team of the Year 2011.
-
Approval of the Brierley Hill Area Action Plan.
-
Delivery of Borough wide Air Quality Action Plan
-
Working with Adult Community and Housing Services and Age UK to reduce the impact of rogue traders on our vulnerable residents.
-
Working with food businesses and delivery of 'Scores on the Doors' assessment for the public
-
Trading Standards Fix-a-Home scheme has been approved under the OFT Local Authority Assured Trader Scheme Network
-
Successful launch of 'Take 5 in Dudley' initiative, encouraging people to eat 5 portions of fruit and vegetables a day.
