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Epping Forest District Council (EFDC) was successful at a High Court injunction hearing last month.
Russell Road
EFDC issued an enforcement notice on a property in Russell Road, Buckhurst Hill, for an unlawful extension.
The owner of the property, Mr Halama lost his appeal of the notice. He was given a time period to comply, which expired without the remedial work being completed, resulting in the council instigating a High Court injunction.
Next steps
The hearing took place on Monday 16 October, where EFDC obtained the injunction and costs of £8,000 for the preliminary application to be paid by the property owner. Mr Halama will be ordered to pay further costs to EFDC, which are yet to be decided.
Mr Halama was given until Monday 22 April 2024 to undertake all the corrective work in strict accordance with the planning permission that was granted in October 2021. It was also ruled that he must not undertake any further development at the property unless he has further planning permission to do so.
No real winners
Councillor Ken Williamson, Cabinet Member for Regulatory Services said:
Although this is a win for EFDC, I feel that there are no real winners in this situation.
The amount of time, energy and money expended on this by all parties could have easily been avoided. The council takes planning breaches very seriously and with each investigation comes a significant cost in officer time and taxpayers’ money.
Report a planning breach
Go to the Epping Forest District Council website for more information about planning enforcements or to report a planning breach.
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