Developer accused of turning meadow into ‘rubbish tip’ will be forced to clean it up

A developer accused of turning a meadow into a ‘rubbish tip’ will be forced to clean it up after an inspector decided to uphold an enforcement notice.

Wrexham Council took action against Gurjit Mahal of Taylor Reed Homes over waste and an outbuilding left on land in the village of Bettisfield.

The company previously demolished the nearby Nag’s Head pub to create four houses, but the area where building materials were dumped did not form part of the site.

Mr Mahal launched an appeal against the order in June and claimed the council was wasting his time because he intended to put houses on the land at Eatonfield Close.

However, a planning inspector appointed by the Welsh Government has now ruled in the local authority’s favour, despite giving him extra time to tidy the area.

In documents released outlining the decision, Aidan McCooey said the appeal failed because Mr Mahal did not have permission to develop the site.

He said: “The unchallenged evidence is that the development on the nearby land has been completed.

“The outbuilding and materials deposited on the site are not therefore permitted development. This is the factual position whatever the appellant’s future intentions may be.

“As the development is not permitted development and requires planning permission, the appeal must fail.”

Mr McCooey said the original deadline given by the council to clean up the land was not sufficient as Mr Mahal would need to apply for a special licence to carry out the work.

It comes after Natural Resources Wales confirmed the site was subject to a separate notice aimed at preventing harm to great crested newts and their habitat.

As a result, the inspector increased the original 35 day time limit to three months.

Residents living in the village near the Shropshire border had previously written to Mr McCooey to criticise the condition of the area.

Paul Griffiths, whose home it backs onto it, described it as “unsightly” and a “danger to children”.

He said: “The site has been left like this for a number of years now.

“I moved to Bettisfield over 20 years ago as it’s a well kept village, where everyone takes pride in their property, but since Taylor Reed Homes took over the beautiful meadow at the rear of my house it has been transformed into a rubbish tip.”

By Liam Randall – BBC Local Democracy Reporter (more here on the LDR scheme).