Councillors are calling for more action to be taken to clear derelict sites and buildings across Calderdale after the issue was discussed by the Council’s Economy and Environment Scrutiny Panel.
Calderdale Council’s Chair of the Economy and Environment Scrutiny Panel, Cllr James Baker said:
“Unfortunately we have many neglected sites and properties across Calderdale, such as at Hope St in Todmorden, which are an eyesore and a real blight on the community. These are often large sites which have great potential, and their redevelopment would provide a welcome boost to our local economy.
“We receive many complaints from members of the public and we strongly feel that it’s time we took more positive action. The Council already has strong legal powers to tackle the problem and we are calling on the Cabinet to make more use of these to force landlords to act.”
Local authorities have the power to serve a Section 215 Notice to a landlord where there is untidy land which is damaging the appearance of a local area. If the land owner fails to tidy up the site further action can be taken by the Council, including prosecution.
The Economy and Environment Scrutiny Panel concluded by making a recommendation to the Council’s Cabinet that there is a review of planning enforcement, to make sure that the powers which are available are used pro-actively in future and of the resources which are available to the enforcement team, including staff and budgets.