Stratford Magistrates Court recently awarded Stratford-on-Avon District Council £537 following a court case and fined R S Brookhouse Engineering (Evesham) Ltd from Bidford £12,000.
Following an investigation by the District Councils Planning Enforcement Team, Stratford Magistrates court accepted a guilty plea from Mr Roger Stephen Brookhouse of R S Brookhouse Engineering (Evesham) Ltd for failing to comply with an Enforcement Notice requiring removal of pipe-laying and pipe bending machinery from their land at Moor Hall Farm, Wixford.
"With this substantial prosecution, Stratford-on-Avon District Council is appealing to the public to take planning legislation seriously," says Councillor George Atkinson, Planning Portfolio.
"Fines like this, along with costs incurred by the Council to uphold policies are frequently unnecessary and easily avoided. Our Enforcement Officers make strenuous efforts to find a negotiated solution before having to resort to formal action or prosecution. The public are the eyes and ears of the District and we rely on conscientious residents to contact the Planning Enforcement Team if they suspect a breach of legislation or planning conditions."
Non-compliance with an enforcement notice is an offence, which because of its seriousness is punishable by a fine of up to £20,000.
Stratford-on-Avon District Council issued an Enforcement Notice in 2008 in respect of the non-compliance with a planning condition restricting the external storage of large pipe-laying and pipe-bending machines on land at Moor Hall Farm. An appropriate period for compliance was given, but when insufficient progress was made in compliance with the notice, the Company was prosecuted for the offence, for which they pleaded guilty. The company was fined £12,000 with a further £537 towards prosecution costs.
