Ms Joan Martin:

I would be happy to take that question. The restrictions we have on opening hours are similar to those that apply to building sites. Opening hours often apply when housing developments are being constructed.

Those kinds of restrictions are well established. There is long-established precedent, custom and practice so, if one went into court, one would be very confident. I suppose the first question to have in mind, if a new type of measure is introduced, is how will a court approach it and whether a court will feel it was proper planning and development.

In terms of enforcement, in reality, the most likely way a council would act on something like that is if it got a complaint. For example, if the principal of a school wrote in to say, "This place is supposed to be closed at lunchtime and it was open yesterday", we are legally obliged to investigate the complaint. What I would point out is that the process of planning enforcement is long and tortuous, and it is not a quick-fix solution. If somebody complains about something today and we then write out and say the business is not complying with its planning permission, and the business willingly and voluntarily changes its behaviour, that is fine. However, if we end up having to go to court, it is a very long process. With a new and very different type of condition, where somebody might say we were interfering with economic activity, or some other issue like that, it would be have to be tested.

Certainly, local authorities take their planning enforcement role seriously and we receive a very large number of complaints. If we end up having to go through a legal process with all of those, it is an enormous and costly undertaking. In some cases, it takes years and we get a court order in the end, but, the next thing, they are at it again, and we are back dealing with it again. I am currently dealing with a case that I have dealt with many times in the past. It can be very difficult. However, very often, if we write out to somebody under a certain condition to say we have a complaint, that can be the end of it. It depends on how willing people are to accept and comply with the conditions.