Anger over vehicle sales from car park
NEIGHBOURS COMPLAIN OF REVVING ENGINES CONNECTED TO ‘UNAUTHORISED’ BUSINESS
A NOTTINGHAMSHIRE council could take action against people selling cars from a car park.
Gedling Borough Council will consider whether to take enforcement action over the unauthorised use of the car park off Eastham Road, Arnold to sell cars, upsetting neighbours who have complained about the activity.
The car park was referred to the council’s environmental health team in June 2022 following concerns of “noise nuisance”.
It was found there were people alleged to be selling cars from the car park. The authority also received reports of people “revving them on the car park” and driving them up and down the road. Photographs and registration logs showed cars were being prepared, photographed and sold from the car park. Paperwork was also exchanged on-site and on a nearby road, while there were online adverts for the vehicles showing the land being used as a business.
Council officers said business activity was noted at “various times of day”, including late at night.
Council papers say the authority wrote to those involved advising the business use was unauthorised and should cease immediately. This is because no formal planning consent to use the land as a business had been sought or approved.
The council then received more than 20 complaints about people viewing, testing and selling vehicles. Planning contravention notices were served against the people believed to be responsible in July, before the activity “slowed down” in early August. However, in late August and September, more than 30 emails were sent to the authority showing the activity was still ongoing. An unannounced visit on September 28 found evidence of the
business operating before one person involved admitted to the activity the next day.
Council officers visited a number of times in October to assess whether the business was still operating. A concerned resident contacted the authority to say they had witnessed the sale of a vehicle on October 17, between 10pm and 11pm. They told the authority they had witnessed eight vehicles being test-driven, prepared, viewed and sold between October 1 and November 9.
The authority wrote to people involved on November 7 and November 9 to say evidence showed “unauthorised activity” was still ongoing and that enforcement action would be taken. Now the council’s planning committee is to decide whether action will be taken.
Officers are recommending a planning enforcement notice should be issued and, if it is not complied with, court action could be taken.
In documents, the council said: “A breach of planning control has been identified which is detrimental to the character of the area, amenities of nearby occupiers of other residential properties and highway safety. Despite having been advised numerous times to cease the use of the site for the vehicle sales business, they have failed to do so.
“The council should now commence enforcement action without delay by issuing a planning enforcement notice requiring the cessation of the unauthorised business and removal of all associated vehicles.
“If the notice is not complied with proceedings should be taken in the courts if necessary.”
Members of the authority’s planning committee will discuss the enforcement action on November 30.