Telford businessman ordered to stop engineering work on land in planning row
An under-fire Telford businessman has been ordered to stop engineering work on part of his site and restore it to its former condition.
A planning inspector has delivered the verdict against Steve Holding, former boss of the SP Holding Group of companies, ordering him to cease engineering operations at Upper Coalmoor Farm at Moreton Coppice.
Inspector Stephen Brown also ruled that the land must be restored to its former condition in the next 12 months, and ordered Mr Holding to pay a "significant" portion of Telford & Wrekin Council's costs for the four-day planning inquiry.
Mr Holding now runs another company from the site after SP Holding Group entered administration last year, and said the ruling could affect jobs in his current businesses and at another company which operates on the affected area, and stifle business growth.
He insisted that the company had disguised the works on the site, and that no neighbours had ever complained.
But Telford & Wrekin Council said the company was carrying out unauthorised engineering operations, using heavy plant to excavate the land which altered the ground levels, extracting stone, and using part of the land for storing vehicles.
The council said it was "very pleased" with the inspector's decision.
Councillor Richard Overton, Telford & Wrekin's cabinet member for housing and enforcement, said: "This fully supported the council’s view that the development was unauthorised and also an inappropriate form of development in this location that caused significant harm to the character and appearance of the countryside and the site itself.
“It is further evidence that where development is carried out without the necessary planning permission, Telford & Wrekin Council will take enforcement action where appropriate.”
The action is unrelated to the issues that forced SP Holding Group into administration, which included Mr Holding receiving a seven-month jail sentence in January 2016 for helping his drivers to falsify their tachograph readings.
While the council launched the proceedings in late 2015, before SP Holding Group collapsed, the ruling is enforced against the owner of the land and not the business.
Mr Holding is the landowner, so he will be held liable for its restoration, as would any new owner of the site.
