Appeal lost against Section 215 notice

[henrygregory]

Hi, I am just looking for some advice to help my father who recently lost an appeal against a Section 215 notice

He owns a small holding in a rural area and was contacted by an enforcement officer in September 2012 as reports had allegedly been made by neighbours as to the state of his land. The officer visited several times and took many photographs of rubble and items considered unsightly. The officer agreed with my father as to which items would need to be removed and disposed of. They also agreed on which items my farther was allowed to keep; items relating to his job and or required for the care/housing of his livestock and animals.
He worked with the officer to remove the highlighted items, but later in the year, the case was re-opened as a category A case.

He appealed on the grounds that he had followed the requirements of the officer who had visited and spoken to him, however his appeal was thrown out and he has now been given a bill of several thousand to pay and told to clear his land within 3 months (which suggests, the enforcement are still unhappy with the state of his land). The council say they used powers under Town and Country Planning Act 1990 to serve a section 215 notice following complaints from local residents.

He is not the most computer literate of people, and is not that up on his legal rights. I was hoping someone on here may be able to offer some suggestions as to his next step. Maybe ombudsmen of some sort.
I was also thinking a first step may be to send FOI requests to the council concerned to establish how many complaints were made to the council regarding this matter and respective dates and also maybe the contents of the complaints (with complainant's name removed obviously) if they would allow?

Any help or suggestions would be most appreciated.

[labman]

Re: Appeal lost against Section 215 notice

Bump

[Eloise01]

Re: Appeal lost against Section 215 notice

I know a little bit about these notices. What do you mean that your father appealed - the only appeals possible are to the Magistrates Court, not the Council, and they are on very limited grounds. Based on the relevant legislation here I do not see what knowing the number of complaints or the contents of complaints would benefit you - s. 215 notices do not require complaints to be received at all, so this information would not be relevant to anything. Prior to issuing a s.215 the owner of the property should have received written warnings, there appears to have been some pre-action discussion (which I believe is normal best practice), and prior to the order going to court he would have received a letter outlining the details of the order, the minimum works required to bring the land to the required standard and 28 days to do so. As far as I am aware, if he has appealed to the magistrates court and lost, then there is no other route of further appeal. However, doing so would substantially increase his costs, and appeals typically do not succeed. Would it not be simpler to comply with the terms of the notice?

[henrygregory]

Re: Appeal lost against Section 215 notice

I know a little bit about these notices. What do you mean that your father appealed - the only appeals possible are to the Magistrates Court, not the Council, and they are on very limited grounds. Based on the relevant legislation here I do not see what knowing the number of complaints or the contents of complaints would benefit you - s. 215 notices do not require complaints to be received at all, so this information would not be relevant to anything. Prior to issuing a s.215 the owner of the property should have received written warnings, there appears to have been some pre-action discussion (which I believe is normal best practice), and prior to the order going to court he would have received a letter outlining the details of the order, the minimum works required to bring the land to the required standard and 28 days to do so. As far as I am aware, if he has appealed to the magistrates court and lost, then there is no other route of further appeal. However, doing so would substantially increase his costs, and appeals typically do not succeed. Would it not be simpler to comply with the terms of the notice?

Thanks very much for your post. I don't know all of the ins and outs of his case but thought I would best assist him where I can. I don't see him and don't know of his personal affairs so can only go on what he has told me. But from what you have explained and suggested, I would think it would be safer for him to comply and pay.

I think his problem is that he is saying he has complied and the council were happy with the changes he made to the land, but then said they would prosecute him. He is also unable to afford the costs so paying up will be difficult for him.

[Eloise01]

Re: Appeal lost against Section 215 notice

If you want a lot more detail then you'd have to wait a few days as I'd need to speak to a friend who knows all the in's and out's of this... But in reality my understanding is that there is actually quite a lot of "warning" before such notices are issued, and the little you know about it seems to confirm that this has happened. Even if he had complied with what he was told to do and it was decided subsequently that that was not enough, there would still be further discussion and warnings before a notice ought to be issued. Obviously, it's possible that something has "gone amiss" with that process, but equally it's possible that he simply did the bare minimum and that hasn't fixed the problem. The risk with these notices is that if you cannot overturn them - and correctly drawn up they are very hard to overturn and few appeal succeed - then the costs can quickly mount. There are fines (and failure to comply is a criminal act - so you get a criminal record) and if you still fail to comply the council can send in someone to do it and charge you whatever it costs. At that sort of point things like bailiffs and HCEO's and land charges etc tend to start accumulating at a frightenting rate. Most people comply without it ever getting past the stage of a warning about possible action under section 215.

[henrygregory]

Re: Appeal lost against Section 215 notice

If you want a lot more detail then you'd have to wait a few days as I'd need to speak to a friend who knows all the in's and out's of this... But in reality my understanding is that there is actually quite a lot of "warning" before such notices are issued, and the little you know about it seems to confirm that this has happened. Even if he had complied with what he was told to do and it was decided subsequently that that was not enough, there would still be further discussion and warnings before a notice ought to be issued. Obviously, it's possible that something has "gone amiss" with that process, but equally it's possible that he simply did the bare minimum and that hasn't fixed the problem. The risk with these notices is that if you cannot overturn them - and correctly drawn up they are very hard to overturn and few appeal succeed - then the costs can quickly mount. There are fines (and failure to comply is a criminal act - so you get a criminal record) and if you still fail to comply the council can send in someone to do it and charge you whatever it costs. At that sort of point things like bailiffs and HCEO's and land charges etc tend to start accumulating at a frightenting rate. Most people comply without it ever getting past the stage of a warning about possible action under section 215.

Hello, thanks very much for your detailed post. I have printed it alloff and will give to my farther when I next see him. Unfortunately, he does not have a computer or even a TV. Will update on this post accordingly. Thanks again