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Man prosecuted and fined for non-compliance with planning enforcement notice
Posted on: 25 January 2024
A man has been successfully prosecuted and fined for failing to comply with a planning enforcement notice relating to the opening and use of an unauthorised access on the B4077.
On the 8 January 2024, the owner of land at Warren Fruit Farm near Toddington, Mr Billy-Joe Roper, pleaded guilty at Cheltenham Magistrates Court to offences of non-compliance with an extant Enforcement Notice and a Temporary Stop Notice.
A retrospective planning application for this access was refused in August 2023 on highways safety grounds but use continued and despite multiple warnings, the access was not closed as per the requirements of the notice.
Tewkesbury Borough Council’s planning officers were eventually compelled to take direct action to close the unauthorised access in the interests of public safety.
Magistrates held that the defendant wilfully refused to do what was requested by the enforcement notice. Mr Roper was ordered to pay the borough council’s costs, a fine and a victim surcharge totalling £1,280.
Tewkesbury Borough Council’s Lead Member for Built Environment, Councillor Mary Jordan, said: “The defendant’s disregard of the enforcement notice, to prevent unauthorised access on the B4077, put the public’s safety at risk.
“This successful prosecution demonstrates the council’s commitment to planning regulation and should act as a warning to those who would choose to ignore it, as we will not hesitate to take further action through the courts.”
For more information about planning compliance, visit Planning compliance – Tewkesbury Borough Council.
