Weymouth man fined after failing to comply with planning notice
73 year old Aytach Hasan was using land at Pirates Lane unlawfully
A Weymouth man's been fined more than £4,000 for failing to comply with a Dorset Council Planning Enforcement Notice.
Aytach Hasan, who's 73 and from Wyke Regis, owns part of the land on the north west side of Pirates Lane.
He's one of around 45 owners there, as the site had been divided up and sold off as plots between November 2015 and March 2017, by the previous owner.
The lawful use of the space is for agriculture, but many of the new landowners were carrying out unauthorised uses.
Mr Hasan was using it for 'leisure and recreational purposes' and for storing non-agricultural items.
Dorset Council has attempted to contact all the plotholders about the lawful use of the land, but due to continued unauthorised use, every owner was served with enforcement notice in July 2018.
All unauthorised assets were ordered to be removed by February 2020 - but a number of site visits between September 2020 and May 2023 found no steps to take items off the land had been carried out by Mr Hasan.
He's now admitted failing to comply with an enforcement notice, contrary to the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, during a hearing at Weymouth Magistrates Court.
Mr Hasan has been fined £300 for each of the two offences he was charged with, ordered to pay prosecution costs of £3,477, and a victim surcharge of £32 - the grand total being £4,109.
Cllr David Walsh, Dorset Council’s Portfolio Holder for Planning, said:
“This successful prosecution should come as a warning to anyone who thinks they can ignore Planning Enforcement Notices without consequence. We gave Mr. Hasan more than enough time and support to comply with our instructions and, while we’re pleased with the result, it shouldn’t have come to this.
“Many other plot owners in this area have also failed to take heed of our Enforcement Notices, and we will be taking legal action in due course. In the meantime, I want to thank our Planning Enforcement officers and Legal team for their hard work in bringing this case to court.”