Fined for creating a skip eyesore
A Polegate businessman has been fined a total of £20,000 and ordered to pay £2,510 in costs for using land at Dittons Road as an unauthorised skip depot.
Mr Paul Scott, proprietor of Scott & Son, of Honeypot Farm, Polegate, pleaded guilty at Eastbourne Magistrates Court to four charges of unauthorised use of the land for loading and unloading skips which took place in February and March this year. This was after Mr Scott had been served a notice by Wealden District Council’s planning enforcement officers telling him to stop using the land for industrial and commercial uses for which no planning permission had been obtained.
The land had been used as a temporary depot for construction vehicles during the building of the new bypass and A22 link road but had no planning consent for any commercial use. Complaints were received in autumn 2004 that the site was being used for loading and unloading skips. At one time there were 74 skips on the site. This had a serious impact on neighbouring properties in terms of the number of visits by heavy lorries and the general eyesore caused by the skips on the site. Material being taken to the site included building rubble, plasterboard, plastic bags, metal and insulation material.
In handing out the £20,000 fine, the court took account that Mr Scott’s actions had enabled him to avoid paying charges for using the authorised Beddingham waste handling facilities.
“There can be no cutting of corners in the way businesses and the community handle waste in Wealden,” said Councillor Keith Whitehead, Cabinet member for Sustainable Development and Regeneration. “We will seek to ensure that businesses which avoid the proper planning rules are made to face up to their responsibilities.”
