East Suffolk Council
Landowner fined for failing to comply with enforcement notice
A landowner has been ordered to pay more than £5,000 in fines and costs for failing to comply with an enforcement notice imposed for breaching planning controls.
Kevin Oram appeared at Suffolk Magistrates’ Court on Monday 31 July to admit five counts of breaching two enforcement notices issued by East Suffolk Council.
He was ordered to pay £5,134.78, including a total fine of £1,535, for failing to comply with the notices on land west of Guildhall Lane, Wrentham, last August.
The notices were initially served in March 2022 for a failure to remove items and restore land to the condition it was in before its use was found to have changed without authorisation in February 2021.
The unauthorised change of use of the land, and unauthorised operational development, included a residential use, the storage of materials, vehicles and caravans, and the erection of structures and laying of hardstanding.
East Suffolk Council took legal action after an enforcement officer visited the property in August to find that the notice had not been observed within the four-month set period.
Cllr Kay Yule, East Suffolk's cabinet member for Planning and Coastal Management, said: “I hope the outcome of this case serves as a reminder of the importance of planning controls.
“As a local authority, we will investigate and take appropriate enforcement action against unauthorised development, which, if not properly enforced, could have a potentially serious adverse impact on public amenity and cause unacceptable harm to land.”