Development and Street Scene

We are responsible for a range of services that aim to protect and enhance the special environment of Richmond Upon Thames and provide you with excellent customer services.

• Building Control
• Consumer Protection
• Planning
• Registrars
• Waste and Recycling
• Street Care and Cleaning
• Street Scene Enforcement

Our service

We produce a yearly service plan that identifies our plans for improvements and sets out how we measure our performance.

The Department aims to ensure all our services work well together providing a one stop shop for businesses and public alike. This should make accessing our services easier, reducing duplication and red tape which we recognise can often be frustrating for those using our services.

A common element of the services provided by the Department is their use of legislation to protect our local environment. Any service that uses legal powers has to ensure that these are administered fairly. The Council has committed itself to comply with the Government’s Concordat on Good Enforcement. This means that we will:

• Have clear standards setting out the level of service and performance that our users can expect with the results published.
• Be open about how we work, consulting regularly and using plain language.
• Provide our services in a helpful and co-ordinated manner.
• Ensure our enforcement action is proportionate to the risk
• Have systems to maintain consistency in the way we deal with business and the public.
• Deal properly with complaints, learning from them.

Each of our services works to achieve specific service standards, details of these will be available shortly on this website. In addition all our services have general standards:

• We will greet you in a polite and friendly manner.
• Where appropriate we offer appointments and you will be seen within 10 minutes of that appointment.
• We will answer your telephone calls within 5 rings.
• All letters will be responded to within 7 working days.
• All complaints will be responded to within 2 working days.
• If English is not your first language please let us know and we will use language line to help you.
• Other than general enquiries you will be told the name of the officer you are dealing with and given their direct contact details.

We will be courteous and deal with your enquiries effectively. If we make an error please tell us so we can put it right. If we are unable resolve it to your satisfaction, there is a complaints procedure. Your complaint will be acknowledged and a full response given.

Action plans

The following action plans are from the main Development and Street Scene service plan actions document

• Environment Directorate(pdf, 117KB)
• Building Control(pdf, 80KB)
• Commercial Environmental Health(pdf, 92KB)
• Customer Services(pdf, 91KB)
• Information Management Group(pdf, 109KB)
• Licensing(pdf, 99KB)
• Planning(pdf, 93KB)
• Policy and Design(pdf, 95KB)
• Special Projects(pdf, 73KB)
• Street Scene(pdf, 67KB)
• Trading Standards(pdf, 95KB)
• Waste and Recycling(pdf, 86KB)
• Appendix 1 - Environment Directorate Consultation Programme(pdf, 134KB)