The owners of a former nursery in Istead Rise near Gravesend face legal action for allegedly breaching an enforcement notice requiring them stop using the site as a base for heavy goods vehicles.
An enforcement notice was issued December last year, following the change of use of Walnut Hill Nursery in Walnut Hill Road from agricultural to mixed use.
The enforcement notice required all HGV tanker lorries to be removed from the land within 28 days of when the notice took effect.
Following an appeal and a site visit in April, a planning inspector ruled in June that the appeal had failed and refused to grant planning permission for a change of its use.
The landowners had until 30 June to comply with the notice.
On Thursday 10 July, a planning enforcement officer from Gravesham Borough Council visited Walnut Hill and found six HGV tankers on site.
Evidence was recorded, and a company representative present was cautioned. Letters have also been sent to the registered owners of the land informing them of the council’s intention to prosecute for the alleged breach of the enforcement notice.
Cllr Shane Mochrie-Cox, Gravesham Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Planning and Business Development, said:
“Failure to comply with a planning enforcement notice is a criminal offence and we will be collating and submitting our evidence to the magistrates court in this case."
“I would like to reassure residents that where we believe we have the evidence to support our case, we will always follow all routes open to us when it comes to the enforcement of planning law.”