PARISH councils across Somerset were growing increasingly frustrated at being let down by a lack of effective planning enforcement action, the county’s unitary councillors have been told.

Liberal Democrat-run Somerset Council was lambasted for its failures to protect communities from rogue developers when it met last week.

Conservative opposition group deputy leader Cllr Diogo Rodrigues said communities the length and breadth of the county were experiencing unresolved breaches of planning regulations and suffering lengthy delays in meaningful action.

He said a severe backlog of cases had become a major source of grievance for residents who felt let down by the enforcement system.

Cllr Rodrigues, who represents Bridgwater, had previously revealed one area of Somerset alone had a backlog of 183 enforcement cases, which were being handled by only 0.8 of a full-time officer.

He said despite this, the council’s latest planning annual report made no mention at all of the enforcement issue.

Cllr Rodrigues branded the omission ‘disappointing and unacceptable’.

He said: “We know enforcement is one of the biggest gripes for parish councils across the county.

“To publish an annual report on economic development and planning without a single reference to enforcement is unacceptable.

“It raises questions about whether the council is giving this issue the attention it needs.”

Cllr Rodrigues said while a ‘phased return of an additional officer’ had been mentioned, there was no timeline given for clearing the particular backlog of cases he had mentioned.

Now, he has demanded the authority should produce ‘a full breakdown of enforcement backlogs and staffing levels’ across each of the planning areas of Somerset.

Cllr Rodrigues said it was information which should have been made pubic in the annual report, but was not.

He said: “This is about basic transparency and accountability.

“We need to get a better grip on enforcement.”