Court rules that Hackney Planning Enforcement Notice is a nullity

Snaresbrook Crown Court allowed an appeal against conviction from Thames Magistrates’ Court in relation to a planning enforcement notice issued by Hackney Council.

The enforcement notice contained several requirements. The first three were easily understandable (requiring the cessation of use of the rear garden of a house as a car repair garage) but the fourth required “The making good of all damage to the property from the removal of the unauthorised works and restore the relevant parts of the property to the condition they were in before the unauthorised extensions were constructed.” The problem with the notice was that it complained of no operational development and no unauthorised extensions had actually been constructed.

The Judge sitting with two magistrates acceded to submissions (that the District Judge in the magistrates’ court had rejected) that even though the first three requirements were clear and had incidentally had not been complied with, the fourth requirement defied understanding, thus rendering the entire notice a nullity. The appeal against the conviction was therefore allowed.

The case was prepared by David Sonn, who had been the advocate in the Magistrates’ Court. The Crown Court advocate was Melissa Murphy KC.