A MAN embroiled in a bitter council row is being forced to destroy his £25,000 garden or face going to prison.
Richard Hickson forked out £5k for a patch of grass next to his garden in Istead Rise, near Gravesend, Kent and built a 6ft privacy fence around it.
The dad-of-two created the extra space for his five and eight-year-old daughters, and shelled out another £20,000 perfecting it.
Despite receiving no complaints from Kent County Council for five years, the 37-year-old is now being threatened with "a fine, imprisonment, or both" if he doesn't tear down the fence.
An outraged Richard said the spot of land he bought, from developers P J Brazier and Company Limited, was "not used by anyone", only serving as a "litter trap" and a place people abandoned their cars.
He told KentOnline: “It sounds ridiculous. We could go to prison for putting up a fence. It has just been massively stressful.
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“This is not going to benefit anyone and nobody cared in the first place. It is just costing everyone more money."
Richard said the "devastating news" will ruin "a haven" for his children.
The fuming homeowner claimed if he hadn't bought it, another resident may have snapped it up and built a small property.
This would have been more invasive than a 6ft privacy fence, according to Richard.
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Kent County Council have told Richard, and wife Jade, the spot of grass they purchased is a “publicly maintainable highway” subject to highway rights.
This means, despite Richard owning the land, the council have final say.
In a letter, seen by KentOnline, KCC told the unassuming family it is “an offence” to “obstruct the highway in any way” – which officials claim the fencing does.
The notice added: “KCC has the ability to prosecute you for this offence and if found guilty, you may be liable to a fine, imprisonment, or both.
“As the highway authority, we have a duty to assert the rights of the highway user and therefore we require your immediate attention to this matter.
"The fencing surrounding the land needs to be removed immediately.”
In disbelief Richard said: “We would never have put the fence up or made it part of our garden if we knew.
“We thought if you bought it through the land registry it was then yours to do with what you liked.
"We find ourselves embroiled in a property dispute that was not of our making.”
LEGAL BATTLE
The family were told they could take their case to court to remove the highway title from their land.
KCC also informed Richard and Jade they need to apply for planning permission for building the structure and expanding their garden.
A lawyer wrote to the couple, on behalf of the council, stating they also owed £2,120 for felling four trees on the property.
The scathing homeowner feels so strongly about the battle he is willing to move out of the village should he lose his beloved garden.
Ward Councillor, Dakota Dibben, said: "I can understand where KCC is coming from but think it is being quite heavy-handed. It is difficult.
"I have supported the family where I can and will continue to do so no matter the decision and try and help them to find a solution."
A spokesman for KCC said: “This is part of an ongoing legal process and we are unable to comment at this time.”
This comes as many homeowners ignore council notices to tear down their new fences and structures.
While is it not usually an offence to build without planning permission, unless on a listed property, failure to comply with an enforcement notice is regarded a criminal offence.
According to Planning Resource, hefty fines can be imposed if planning enforcement notices are ignored.
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One Brit was slapped with an eye-watering £20,000 fine, £27,174 costs and a £261,837 confiscation order in 2020.
Experts added that even if homeowners avoid penalties at the time, it could make selling the property difficult later on.
What are your rights?
Planning permission guidance according to gov.uk
You will need to request planning permission if you wish to build something new, make a major change to your building or change the use of your building – for example starting a business.
To find out if you need planning permission you should contact your Local Planning Authority through your council.
If planning permission is refused you can appeal.
You are able to appeal if you were refused planning permission for reasons that you think go against the LPA’s development plan or planning policy (you can usually find these on their website).
You can also appeal if you were granted planning permission with conditions you object to – you’ll need to explain why you think they’re unnecessary, unenforceable, vague, unreasonable or irrelevant.
Another ground for appeal is if the LPA has not given you a decision on your application and 8 weeks have passed since the date they told you they’d received it (or a different deadline you agreed with them has passed).
What are your rights in retrospective planning permission?
A local planning authority can invite a retrospective application, according to Gov.uk.
You should submit your application without delay.
Although a local planning authority may invite an application, you must not assume permission will be granted.
A person who has undertaken unauthorised development has only one opportunity to obtain planning permission after the event. This can either be through a retrospective planning application or an appeal against an enforcement notice – on the grounds that planning permission should be granted or the conditions should be removed.
The local planning authority can decline a retrospective planning application if an enforcement notice has previously been issued.
No appeal may be made if an enforcement notice is issued within the time allowed for determination of a retrospective planning application
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