£20K fine for failure to comply with Planning Enforcement Notice

Two sisters have been fined following a recent prosecution brought by Stratford-on-Avon District Council for failing to comply with an Enforcement Notice.

Fiona Wingrove and Sara Thomas of Fox Farm, Bascote, Southam were fined £10,000 each at Nuneaton magistrates Court and the District Council was awarded £1,782 costs and they were also required to pay a £120 victim surcharge.

The Enforcement Notice was issued in June 2012 under the Town and Country Planning Act and required Ms Wingrove and Mrs Thomas to stop using a building on their site at Fox Farm for residential purposes and to then demolish the building.  However, subsequent legal challenges delayed the process of resolving the matter.

The Enforcement Notice was not complied with and legal proceedings were started. Ms Wingrove had also been prosecuted in 2010 for not complying with the requirements of a separate Planning Contravention Notice in relation to this same site.

Cllr Dave Riches, local ward member for Long Itchington and Stockton, said: “This is an important case that gives local people confidence that when there are breaches in planning regulations that the District Council will act on their behalf when it is right to do so. I congratulate the enforcement team on their rigorous and tenacious approach to this long drawn out issue."

Cllr Peter Richards, Chairman of Regulatory Committee said: "This case clearly demonstrates the commitment Stratford District Council has to enforcement and should act as a deterrent to those developers and members of the public who may consider an attempt to circumvent the planning system and not comply with planning law."

An Enforcement Notice is served to require the landowner to remedy the harm caused by the breach of planning control, and failure to comply with the notice is a criminal offence with unlimited fines.

The unauthorised use of this building has been a long standing issue, and significant time had been allowed for the owner to remedy the harm without success.

Previous news releases:

• https://www.stratford.gov.uk/news/news.cfm/archive/129/item/776
• https://www.stratford.gov.uk/news/news.cfm/archive/77/item/135230