24th December 2024
The owners of a retirement development in the Thame conservation area have been ordered to pay more than £2,700 after admitting breaching planning law for failing to remove multiple unauthorised advertisements from around their site.
In May 2023, South Oxfordshire District Council received a planning enforcement complaint regarding advertisements at Yeats Lodge in Greyhound Lane, Thame.
A Planning Enforcement officer visited the site and subsequently confirmed that, due to the land being within a conservation area, the adverts, a combination of flags and signs, were not permitted.
The site owner, Churchill Living Limited (then known as Churchill Retirement Living) was advised that the adverts were not authorised and that consent would be required.
The unauthorised advertisements remained in place and then in September 2023 the company submitted an application to the council for advert consent. However, their application was refused by the council’s Planning Committee in December 2023 on the grounds that the adverts “affect the visual amenity of the area and character and appearance of the Thame Conservation Area.”
As a result, Churchill Living Limited should have removed all the unauthorised adverts within 28 days and would only be able to reinstate them if they submitted and subsequently won an appeal.
Despite this requirement, all the adverts remained in place after the 28 days had passed. On 31 July 2024, South Oxfordshire District Council served a summons against Churchill Living Limited in relation to these proceedings. Five days later, and 14 months after the business was first informed of the situation, the unauthorised adverts were finally removed.
On 3 December, the Planning Inspectorate dismissed Churchill Living Limited’s appeal against the council’s refusal to grant consent for the adverts.
On Friday 13 December, at Oxford Magistrates’ Court, Churchill Living Limited pleaded guilty to two offences of breaching planning control. After taking mitigating factors into account, Magistrates fined the company £1,000 and ordered them to pay prosecution costs of £1,354, £400 victim surcharge and Prosecution Costs.
Churchill Living Limited has apologised for breaching the regulations and promised to learn from the situation.
Cllr Anne-Marie Simpson, Cabinet Member for Planning at South Oxfordshire District Council, said: “We’re very pleased that the Planning Inspectorate backed our decision to refuse this application and that the company has subsequently admitted that it breached planning regulations.
“When we were first made aware of the unauthorised adverts, our officers were very clear with the business about their responsibilities. If they had removed the signs and flags when requested and then followed the correct planning procedure they wouldn’t have ended up in court. We do our best to support local businesses, however those who wish to display advertisements must only do so legally and any placed in a conservation area must have advert consent.”
