The District County Council took enforcement action on June 29th last year over the land at Michelins Farm (next to the Fairglen Interchange, or Rayleigh Spur).
The council had claimed that the land here was supposed to be agricultural , but had been used for depositing soil, rubble, wood and other waste materials. They issued a notice that the depositing of stuff here had to stop within 1 day, the waste materials had to be removed within 6 months , and the land restored to its previous state within 7 months.
The inspector, Katie Peerless, has just delivered her decision:
There were 3 points of argument here.
Firstly, the appellant argued that there hadn’t been a change of use of the land, and that the materials brought on to the site weren’t really waste – they claimed that some of the material had been brought there to make some waterlogged areas more usable. The inspector disagreed and backed the council.
Secondly, the appellant said that it was difficult, if not impossible to restore the land. The inspector disagreed, saying it was not excessive to require the land to be restored by removing the materials.
Thirdly, the appellant asked for more time , and here the inspector agreed, allowing 12 months for removing the waste materials and 14 months to restore the land…..
Does this order also cover the advertising “lorries” on the bend ?
I believe that’s a different issue, but I will double check…
Hasn’t this process been a huge waste of time and money? As per comments made on this very website https://www.onlinefocus.org/?p=8463 Michelins Farm is being considered as a recycling centre, so why force the owners to revert the land. At a time of austerity, this instruction could potentially be a waste of the owners money. In the 6 1/2 years I have lived in Rayleigh, I have never seen this parcel of land used for anything other than the very occasional boot fair. If it has not been used for agriculture for the best part of a decade, then why not wait and see what is going to happen with this strip of land as per the District Core Strategy, there is then no loss to anyone!
HI Cjav, first of all, we made a mistake originally,(oops) this was County Council enforcement, not district, as it is a waste issue.
However your question still applies. But would it be fair to allow a landowner to breach planning rules just because they might be involved in a council deal a few years down the line?
Rayleigh Resident: the advertising lorries are a different issue, but it is one that is still being pursued.