Unauthorised dormer window leads to £3,000 court fine

The dormer, on the rear of 83 Institute Road in Eccleshill, was installed without planning permission, leading to complaints from a member of the public.

In 2017, an enforcement notice was issued by Bradford Council.

On Wednesday, over seven years after the dormer was supposed to have been pulled down, the building’s owner Helen Stead appeared at Bradford and Keighley Magistrates Court.

She was charged with failing to comply with an enforcement notice over a period of several years.

It is the latest in a series of instances where building owners in Bradford have been fined by courts for failing to comply with enforcement notices issued years ago.

Stead, 52 of Norman Avenue, had been issued the notice in November 2017. It ordered her to “demolish the unauthorised dormer window on the rear elevation of the property, reinstate the rear roof plane of the property to its former appearance or replace the white cladding on the front and side walls of the rear dormer window with material which is of similar appearance to the material used on the roof of the property.”

The order gave her two months to complete the work, meaning the dormer should have been removed, or its cladding replaced, by early 2018.

Mr Raja, prosecuting on behalf of Bradford Council, said: “An enforcement notice was issued in late 2017. The Council has not heard anything from Mrs Stead for seven years.

“At 4.45pm yesterday we had a phone call asking if the case could be adjourned.

“The enforcement notice was served following a complaint from a member of the public.

“The dormer extension to the rear of the property was unauthorised, and was clad in white, plastic cladding.

“Over seven years later it still doesn’t match the roof line, and as of yesterday was still as it was.”

Stead initially pleaded not guilty to the charge. The court’s legal advisor questioned how she planned to argue she had complied with the notice when the work had clearly not been done.

After receiving some advice, Stead then changed her plea to guilty.

Mr Raja said: “The defendant accepts she didn’t do the work that should have been done by the end of the notice period.

“The enforcement work should have been done by January 2018. It is regrettable that we are hear in court seven years later.

“When an enforcement notice is issued, Bradford Council is quite generous, the authority allows a reasonable period of time for people to comply.”

He said the Council often doesn’t take legal action until years after the compliance date is missed.

Mr Raja said: “On nine occasions the Council has written to Mrs Stead urging her to comply, and she hasn’t.”

Chair of the bench Jennifer James asked Mr Raja: “Do you think this is a ‘burying their head in the sand’ situation?”

Mr Raja replied: “I didn’t want to say that myself.”

Defending herself, Stead said: “We will comply, we’ll take the cladding off. I hadn’t been working for the last five years, so the money hasn’t been there.”

Mrs James said: “Unfortunately this is what happens when you bury your head in the sand.”

Stead was fined £1,153 and ordered to pay £1,418 costs to Bradford Council and a £461 court surcharge.

She was informed that as well as the fine, the work still needed to be completed.

The case is the latest instance of a building owner being taking to court after years of failure to comply with enforcement notices.

Last month Mohammed Azhar was fined £3,000 for failing to comply with an enforcement notice he was first issued in 2012. The notice required him to remove an unauthorised extension at his home - 89 Intake Road.

And last summer the owner of a Conservation Area business was ordered to pay over £8,000 for failing to comply with an enforcement notice issued in 2010.

Mohammed Tayyab Khawaja had been ordered to remove an unauthorised shop front and external roller shutters on 97-99 Oak Lane, Cha Cha Jewellers.

The property, which lies in the North Park Road Conservation Area, was previously a pharmacy with a traditional wooden shop front.

A number of other planning enforcement cases are due to be heard in Bradford Courts in the coming weeks.