A resident has pointed out that there are satellite dishes all over Willesden and they do spoil the look of houses. Before 2004 planning permission was required generally, but national guidance changed the policy, so that permission only needed in conservation areas and for listed buildings. Suspect assumption was that the technology was changing and dishes would eventually be obsolete. Problem may be that they are not removed even when no use any more. The Borough is developing new policies and guidelines in the Local Development Framework that all authorities expected to produce. I am contacting the planning service to find discover current thinking on dishes and whether related policies or guidance are being developed.
The Planning Committee discussed enforcement recently. Officers argued that we don't have enough resource to enforce effectively even in very serious cases, and that therefore enforcement on more minor things like satellite dishes should be scaled back. In practice, that is likely to mean no enforcement against satellite dishes at all.
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