A housing developer has been forced to pay thousands in fines after leaving an "unsightly mess" on a building site.
Tom Ingleton, director of Ingleton Luxury Homes Ltd, was told by a court he must pay nearly £7,000 in fines after ignoring an instruction by Thurrock Council to clean up The Lawns development site, in Coronation Avenue, East Tilbury.
Mr Ingleton, who has planning permission to build 18 homes on the plot, pleaded guilty at Basildon Magistrates Court.
Forced to pay nearly £7,000 in fines
Thurrock Council asked Mr Ingleton over a year ago to clean up the site after serving a notice, which he ignored.
The council then took the developer to Basildon Magistrates Court where he pleaded guilty to not complying with the notice.
The court ordered his company to pay £3,492 as director of the house building company and £3,400 personally.
What are the regulations for site maintenance?
Councils have the power to serve what is known as a 'maintenance notice' that requires landowners and developers to ensure their sites and plots are kept in good conditions.
Councils will serve a notice under Section 215 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 is they believe an area of land has been left in an unsatisfactory condition, requiring the owner of the land to rectify this.
The landowner must then respond within 28 days, either by improving the site's condition or appeal the decision or else they could face further fines. But if no action is taken then this will be classed as a criminal offence.
Fines are not specified in legislation as this will depend on the severity of the sites condition but previous cases have risen into the thousands for fines handed out.
Case 'serves as a warning to developers'
The Council were pleased with the outcome stating they hope the case will deter other developers from thinking they can leave "unsightly, and potentially hazardous" messes.
Councillor Lee Watson, Cabinet member for Good Growth (a hub for promoting local economies), said: “I hope this case serves as a warning to developers who think they can create a mess, disregard warnings and notices from the council, and behave as they please.
“Instead of building the homes he had permission to, this developer created an unsightly, and potentially hazardous, mess he clearly had no intention of clearing.
“Now he is facing the consequences of his actions. He has to pay out nearly £7,000 in fines and will be forced to clear his site as required by the notice we issued him last April.
“Residents should not have to put up with the mess left by irresponsible developers. This shows that we will always take action to protect our residents and their neighbourhoods.”
Mr Ingleton declined to comment on the matter.
