A MAN who defied a planning enforcement notice to carry on running a skip hire business at his Stretton-under-Fosse farm has been fined £600 by magistrates.
Dennis Pargetter was first paid a visit by planning enforcement officers from Rugby Borough Council in October 2016 after the council received a complaint about a business operating at Broomfield Farm in Smeaton Lane.
On arrival, officers found skips and skip lorries stored at the site and advised Mr Pargetter he needed planning permission to run his business, Brinklow Skip Hire, at the farm.
Pargetter twice contacted the council to confirm his intention to submit a planning application, but in March 2017 he changed his mind and said he intended to stop running the business at the site by 3 April 2017.
When officers visited the site to check Pargetter had stopped running the business, a skip lorry and a number of skips were found.
Officers then issued an enforcement notice to stop the site being used to store and distribute skips and skip lorries.
After Pargetter initially complied with the notice, the council received another complaint in August 2018 about a skip hire business operating at the farm.
Pargetter was reminded he needed planning permission and he again said he intended to submit an application, but when he failed to apply – and officers found the business still operating in October – the council decided to prosecute him.
At Nuneaton’s Warwickshire Justice Centre on Monday February 4, Pargetter pleaded guilty to breaching the enforcement notice – an offence under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990.
In mitigation, Pargetter said his solicitor has been dealing with separate enforcement action taken by Warwickshire County Council and he mistakenly believed the enforcement notice with Rugby Borough Council had also been dealt with.
Pargetter added he now intended to apply for planning permission to operate the skip hire business at the farm.
Magistrates fined the 66-year-old £600 for breaching the enforcement notice. He was also ordered to pay £342 costs and a £60 victim surcharge.
Speaking after the hearing, Rugby Borough Council growth and investment spokesman Coun Sebastian Lowe said: “We have a duty to enforce planning regulations and, while our enforcement team always aims to resolve issues through constructive dialogue, we have no hesitation in prosecuting individuals or organisations who choose to flout the law.”
Email [email protected] or call (01788) 533759 to report suspected breaches of planning regulations.