Developer Ordered to Pay £3,350 Following Council Prosecution

A developer has been ordered to pay £3,350 by Reading Magistrates after a Council prosecution for failing to comply with agreed planning conditions.

Twelve years ago, Andrew Deacon, of Mill Lane, Reading, was granted planning permission for the development of three homes to the rear of a property on Norcot Road, now called Sona Gardens, Tilehurst, Reading.  

Before any of the properties could be occupied however, the developer was required to comply with the agreed planning conditions. Two of those conditions were that details for both hard and soft landscaping at the front of the site had to be submitted and approved by Reading Borough Council, and that the driveway which served the three properties had to be provided in accordance with approved plans and to the satisfaction of the Council’s planning department.

The developer failed to discharge either of the two planning conditions, resulting in a Council warning and a subsequent breach of condition notice being served in September 2024. Despite an eleventh-hour retrospective submission of landscaping details, this was considered unsatisfactory by Council planners and the case proceeded to court.

On 17 April at Reading Magistrates Court, the developer pleaded guilty to failing to comply with the requirements of a breach of condition notice.  He was fined £1,307 and was additionally ordered to pay the victim surcharge of £523 and prosecution costs of £1,520, bringing the total to be paid within 28 days to £3,350.00.  

Catherine Lewis, Interim Public Protection Manager at Reading Council, said:

“We would always advise any developer to fully comply with all conditions attached to any agreed planning permission, and particularly where they have been warned they are in breach of them. Planning conditions such as these exist to protect future tenants and local communities and the Council’s planning enforcement team will not hesitate to pursue prosecutions where warnings are ignored.”