BARNSLEY Council has vowed to pursue a housing developer through the courts after issuing legal proceedings following a breach of planning conditions.
Sheffield-based Gleeson Homes is due to appear at Barnsley Magistrates’ Court later this month to face two charges of failing to comply with a breach of condition notice issued by the local authority.
The charges relate to materials used on its driveways at estates at Lundwood and Wombwell. Gleeson prefers to lay driveways made of gravel rather than a solid surface, and the council claim it flouted a condition of its planning consent requiring ‘solid-bound material’. The argument was contested in five separate planning appeals last year the council winning all five. Following that the council took enforcement action urging Gleeson to re-lay the drives but no work has started, which led to court proceedings being launched. This week the council reiterated its stance and said it was left with ‘no choice’ but to issue court proceedings.
Coun Roy Miller said: “We determined that Gleeson’s revised driveway specification was unacceptable and given that the breach of condition notices have still not been complied with, the next stage was to seek prosecution for non-compliance with the notices. This has been listed at court for November 22. We remain hopeful the matter will be resolved amicably but, should this not be possible, we will continue to pursue the matter through the courts.”
If the local authority is successful, it could seek an injunction forcing the firm to do the work, while Gleeson could incur a hefty fine. In June, councillors on the planning board refused permission for an extension of 97 homes at its Bolton site, citing reasons about the applicant’s past behaviour and its alleged unwillingness to enter into correspondence.
A spokesman from Gleeson said they hoped someone in Barnsley Town Hall would ‘see sense’.
A statement read: “Barnsley Council has an energy strategy in which one of their flagship policies is to reduce CO2 emissions. They also wish to see 21,000 houses built in their area within the next 20 years. If all of these houses were built with gravel drives there would be a saving of 5,000 tons of CO2. However they are not only ignoring their own policies they are doing their utmost to prevent private companies from acting in an environmentally-friendly manner.”
