A Bedford man has been fined £10,000 for storing scrap at his home after he pleaded guilty for breaching a Planning Enforcement Notice.
David John Wright, of Harter Road, was ordered to stop sorting scrap material outside of his home by Bedford Borough Council officers.
This activity created an unlawful change of use of the premises from a residential to a mixed-use of residential and storage of scrap over a significant period of time.
Mr Wright also failed to engage with the Council as the local planning authority and did not fix the breach of planning control by continuing to store scrap material.
A Planning Enforcement Notice was issued in May 2020 requiring him to stop storing scrap material at this address within two months and for all scrap to be permanently removed.
However, a number of visits over a number of months found that a large variety of scrap was still stored at the site.
The Magistrates Court considered the breach to be serious and fined Mr Wright £10,000 and ordered him to pay the Council’s costs of £676.50 and a victim surcharge of £190.
Cllr Henry Vann, Portfolio Holder for Planning said “This large fine of £10,000 plus costs follows the painstaking and meticulous work of officers in investigating this blatant ongoing breach of a planning enforcement notice, which saw large quantities of unsightly scrap material blight a quiet residential street.
“These breaches can cause harm to a local area and the lives of residents, and our officers will work to enforce against them where there are grounds to do so.
“Building up a planning case necessarily takes time and I would like to thank the team for their hard work in tackling this unacceptable behaviour.”
