A CAMPING-CAR parked on a busy connecting road “for months” and provided with legal notices cannot be moved because the owner ignores them.
It is parked in a parking lot on the Hangleton A27 link road and its owner is said to be starting fires and chopping down bushes nearby.
But Brighton and Hove City Council has remained helpless as it pays no heed to Section 77 notices demanding it be moved.
Council officials have attempted to enforce the opinions in court, but time has not been found to hear the case due to the pandemic.
Angry residents contact their neighborhood councilors about the trailer, including curator Dawn Barnett.
She said: “This man has been living here for months and months and months.
“This rest area is for people who need a rest from driving or workers. The owner cut down all the bushes and made bonfires.
“You can’t park in a parking lot for months, residents are fed up.
“If we did that, we would be transferred immediately.
Councilor Dawn Barnett
“In the end, they gave him two move orders, they should say ‘you drop by tomorrow and otherwise we’ll take him and do it’.”
Council officials gave the owner a chance to leave of his own accord. However, he has reportedly reneged on his promises on several occasions.
The owner received a first Section 77 notice in March and again in early April.
However, these opinions are enforced by the courts, which qualify them as “non-priority cases”.
The license plate checker on the government website shows the vehicle has not been taxed since March 2021 and its MOT expired in December 2017.
“We are committed to ensuring that the occupier leaves the land as soon as we can obtain the legal powers to enforce this,” a council spokesperson said.
“We worked with the police and served legal opinions twice to have these vehicles moved. These opinions were ignored.
“Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, we were unable to secure hearing time to be able to follow up on this.
“However, we hope the court will be able to deal with this issue soon.”
North Portslade union adviser Peter Atkinson said: “I have been contacted by a large number of residents who use this route from North Portslade in the morning and back in the evening.
“I share the extreme frustration of the municipal officials, it’s a really unusual time, but the caravan has to leave.
“It blocks the parking lot, preventing trucks from stopping if they need to. Hedges have been damaged and fires have been started.”
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Source: www.theargus.co.uk
This notice was published: 2021-06-05 09:31:55
