Man fined £16,000 over 'jarring' roof extension

The third storey of the building was higher than planned and much more obtrusive, a court hears

A man who failed to demolish an unauthorised roof extension after being told to remove it 15 years ago has been ordered to pay £16,000.

Warren Benton was issued with an enforcement notice by Bradford Council in August 2010 which demanded he pull down an extra storey he had built at a property within a conservation area on High Street in Idle.

Benton appeared at Bradford Crown Court on Thursday where he was fined £12,000 and ordered to pay £4,000 in costs to Bradford Council for failing to obey an enforcement notice.

Judge Colin Burn told Benton, 72, that it was obvious that the extension was "at odds with the surrounding buildings" in the Idle and The Green Conservation Area.

The property is a former office building that dates back to the 19th Century, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Benton was given permission to convert it into flats in 2009, with consent to add a third storey.

However, the additional storey was taller than planned and the appearance was different to the scheme that had been approved.

A retrospective application for the work was submitted in early 2010, but refused by the council.

Officers said the changes to the plan had created an "obtrusive feature" and an enforcement notice requiring demolition by November was issued.

Benton appeared at Bradford Crown Court on Thursday

Clare Walsh, prosecuting, said council officers had visited the site multiple times and Benton had been sent letters urging him to comply with the order.

She said at times it appeared he was co-operating and acknowledged that he could not have been expected to carry out the work during the pandemic.

"But clearly the Covid period was 10 years after the enforcement notice was issued," she said.

"It must have been known that what was being built was not in line with the planning application that had been approved."

She said the extension was currently in use as a home.

Council officers estimated it would cost between £15,000 and £25,000 to demolish the extension.

Mrs Walsh said it should not be "cheaper to offend than to comply with law".

She said the case had so far cost the council around £4,337 to investigate and prosecute.

'Objectionable' building

In mitigation, the court heard Benton acknowledged the length of the breach, had no previous convictions and had a number of health issues.

His representative told the court for a time he was also acting as a carer for his wife, who had since died.

Sentencing Benton, Judge Burn said: "The extension you built was objectionable in terms of planning permission.

"Images of the property show the extension appears to be somewhat jarring in a row of terraced housing.

"This is a building in a conservation area – from a layman's point of view this extension is out of odds with the surrounding buildings."

He said it clearly undermined planning controls.

Judge Burn told Benton that he would have been fined £18,000 had he not pleaded guilty at the first opportunity.

Awarding Bradford Council £4,000 costs, he said: "It is the council's obligation to uphold planning control."

The enforcement notice requiring the extension be demolished still stands.

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