Enforcement warning notice served on unauthorised Bullpit Road site by Newark and Sherwood District Council

A enforcement warning has been served on an unauthorised development, and restrictions put on the hours works can take place.

Newark and Sherwood District Council served an enforcement warning notice on an unauthorised development on Bullpit Road, Balderton, on May 8.

It requires the landowner to submit a planning application for the works, which will then allow public comments to be made and be decided on its merits like all other planning applications.

Control of Pollution Act 1974 section 60 notices were also served on the site, which state that any ongoing works on the site audible at the site boundary must only take place between 7.30am and 6pm, Monday to Friday, and 8am and 1pm on Saturday, with no working on Sundays.

If activity is taking place outside these times, residents should contact the council via email at Environmental.Health@newark-sherwooddc.gov.uk.

The unlawful development sprang up early in May, without planning permission, on the privately owned field, near the railway crossing at Bullpit Road.

Aggregate had been brought onto the field to form hardstanding, and fencing has been erected.

The council stated: “It is extremely disappointing that the occupants chose to ignore the requirement to secure planning permission and undertook construction works without permission and during the night.

“In an ideal world, the council would have the powers to step in straight away, stop the works, and clear the site. Sometimes we can do this, for example, if something is likely to be a danger to the public or create irreversible damage to a heritage building. But in regards to Bullpit Road, this isn’t the case, and so we have to find another way to address the unauthorised development.

“We understand and share residents’ frustration and concerns. Construction of the site has caused alarm and distress and a significant amount of time to deal with it. But the difficult message to convey is that the council is bound by planning policy legislation and can’t always act in the way that it would want to or residents would hope for.”

It assured it was working “diligently” to find a solution, and had been on the case of the development as soon as it appeared.