Man fined for unlawful development
Published
Tuesday 21 January, 2025
Updated
Tuesday 21 January, 2025
A landlord who unlawfully built an outbuilding to store tenants’ belongings has been ordered to pay more than £23,000, after a successful prosecution by Swale Borough Council.
Haig Squire built a red brick and block detached outbuilding at a property in Augustine Road, Minster, to use as storage for his other tenant’s belongings.
The structure did not have the planning permission needed for a building of its size, location and use as non-residential storage.
The council were alerted to the unlawful development following a complaint from a member of the public, and issued an enforcement notice for the removal of the ‘obtrusive’, ‘oppressive’ and ‘overbearing’ structure in May 2019.
The enforcement notice was appealed, but this was dismissed in December 2019, and Mr Squire was required to demolish the building and return the land to its original condition by 5 March 2020.
Mr Squire failed to comply with this deadline, so the council began court proceedings.
On Friday, 10 January 2025, a judge at the Maidstone Crown Court ordered Mr. Squire to pay a fine of £12,000 pounds (reduced from £14,000 for pleading guilty), costs of £9,258, and a victim surcharge of £2,000.
The total of £23,258 must be paid by September 2025, and failure to do so could result in Mr. Squire facing up to 12 months in prison.
The requirements of the enforcement notice will still need to be complied with and progress in this regard will be monitored by the Council.
Cllr Mike Baldock, chair of the Planning Committee, said:
“The council has a duty to investigate planning breaches, and we take complaints from the public very seriously.
“We will always work with everyone involved to try and reach an amicable conclusion, but in this case the landlord refused to comply, ignoring our enforcement notice, and leaving us no choice but to go to court.
“He was negatively impacting his neighbours through noise and the position and size of the building whilst making an income from this building, that had no planning permission.
“This large fine should stand as a warning to those who want to flout our planning rules, which are there to make sure any developments are responsible, safe, and don’t have unreasonable impact on our neighbours.
“This was a long drawn-out saga so a big thank you to all of the officers involved who helped reach this positive conclusion.”
