Miley Connors, 38, put two wooden chalets on a permitted gypsy and traveller caravan site south of Scant Road East in Funtington, Chichester, after being granted permission for ten mobile homes.
Chichester District Council issued an enforcement notice in September 2019, writing that the chalets “contravened the original permission as they were considered built form and were built on raised breeze block foundations”.
The chalets were said to be “urban in appearance”, out of character for the site and were not thought to be a sustainable development in a rural location.
Mr Connors, of Scant Road East, Hambrook, lodged an appeal against the notice in January 2021, arguing that the chalets fell within the definition of caravans and that their impact was no different to that of mobile homes.
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The planning inspector ruled in favour of the council and ordered Mr Connors to demolish the chalets within three months. However, a visit from the Planning Enforcement Team in February 2022 found the chalets still standing.
Mr Connors was fined £28,000 and ordered to pay £4,000 towards the prosecuting counsel’s costs last month for breaching a planning enforcement notice at Portsmouth Crown Court.
Councillor Bill Brisbane, cabinet member for planning at Chichester District Council, said: “We have planning rules in place to protect areas of countryside in our district and if people contravene these policies, then our council will take action.
“As the judge noted in his summing up, this was a persistent period of non-compliance, and this was reflected in the high level of fine that the judge imposed.”
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