A MAN who constructed a building in his garden without planning permission “buried his head in the sand” in the hope enforcement action would go away - a court was told.

Majid Hussain, 45, built an outbuilding behind 41 Loxley Close, Eccleshill several years ago without planning permission.

A retrospective planning application was refused, as was an appeal against that decision.

Bradford Council issued him with an enforcement notice ordering him to demolish the building, which cost around £20,000 to construct.

The deadline for the demolition was pushed back several times - with the last deadline of September 30 2019 passing without any effort being made to remove the building.

Homeowner ordered to pay £4,000 fine over planning breach

After failing to comply with this notice, Hussain was brought before the courts on Friday, charged with breaching an enforcement notice. Hussain pleaded guilty to the charge at Bradford and Keighley Magistrates Court on Friday. The court heard that there had been some movement - windows and doors were removed from the building last week.

The charge had been brought by Bradford Council.

The retrospective application, for a “detached playroom,” was refused because it was “an unwelcome and strident feature, visually incongruous with the existing buildings.”

Earth had been used to raise the level of the garden before the building was constructed.

Planning officers also said it had a negative impact on neighbouring properties “by reason of excessive overbearing, overshadowing and loss of outlook.”

When the plans went to appeal, a Government planning inspector visited the site to view the building.

Refusing the appeal he said: “Having seen the appeal building it its elevated position, I share the Council’s and others’ concerns about the effect that the unauthorised outbuilding has had on the character and appearance of the area.”

He described the design as “crude and mundane.”

Upkar Bahia, defending Hussain, said: “In 2015 my client decided to build this for his children to play in. A lot of hard work went into it. He built it not realising he needed planning permission to build something like this in his own back yard. Noone who built such a structure would want to demolish it.

“He foolishly buried his head in the sand. He was given advice by friends, but unfortunately none of it was correct.

“He should have conceded defeat and got on with demolishing the structure. However harsh the decision is, the law is the law.”

He told magistrates that Hussain was taking the building down “bit by bit” in the hope he could sell some material to recoup costs of building the structure.

Overall the costs of constructing the building had been around £20,000.

Mr Bahia added: “He should have done this earlier - it is unfortunate the matter has had to come to court. He didn’t go out of his way to break rule and regulations.

“He buried his head in the sand in the hope someone would eventually say he was allowed to keep the structure up.”

Hussain had few savings - magistrates were told.

After deliberating Magistrates fined Hussain £120.

The Council had requested Hussain pay £1,035 to cover the costs it took Bradford Council to bring this case to court.

However, due to his limited income, Magistrates ordered him to pay just £100 in costs.

He was told the building must be demolished by the end of March.