£20k fine for failing to upgrade facilities

THE owner of a mobile homes park in Sapcote has been ordered to pay over £21,000 and issued a Criminal Behaviour Order following failure to comply with 10 improvement notices.

Henry Johnson was found guilty in his absence of the offences at Leicester Magistrates’ Court. He was ordered to pay a £20,000 fine, £988.41 in costs and a £170 Victim Surcharge.

Johnson was also served with a Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO) which compels the defendant to comply with the compliance notices served. Failure to comply will breach the CBO, an offence which can carry penalties of an unlimited fine and/or up to five years in prison.

The mobile park in Sapcote, which contains 36 homes, was issued with 10 compliance notices back in the summer of 2017 following lengthy investigations and inspection of the site by Blaby District Council’s Environmental Health team. The compliance notices required Mr Johnson to: Upgrade the electrical supply Improve the gas supply infrastructure Install street lighting Install a noticeboard displaying documents as per the Caravan Site Licence

Upgrade the water supply These works had not been completed by the deadline of 13 November 2017. It is an offence under section 9B of the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960, as amended by the Mobile Homes Act 2013, to fail to comply with a compliance notice.

Councillor Iain Hewson, Portfolio Holder for Leisure and Regulatory Services, said: “We are pleased with the ruling and expect Mr Johnson to undertake the necessary works to ensure residents can live on the site safely.

“Compliance notices are issued for a reason, and on this occasion the extremely poor facilities were not acceptable. We also had to carry out emergency electrical works on this site as it had been identified as an imminent risk.”

This is the first Criminal Behaviour Order issued by Blaby District Council. CBOs are issued when the Court is satisfied that the actions of a Defendant cause, or are likely to cause, harassment, alarm or distress and the order would further present anti-social behaviour.

For more information on the council’s Environmental Health team, visit www. blaby.gov.uk.