Resident fined after ignoring two planning warnings

A resident has been ordered by Reading Magistrates Court to pay almost £6,000, after repeatedly failing to comply with two planning enforcement notices.

Simon McNiffe pleaded guilty on 26 September 2025 to two charges of breaching enforcement notices under s179 (2) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 – for land at Oakland Nursery (formerly Bearwood Nursery) in Church Lane, Arborfield. 

He was successfully prosecuted in June 2019 for a similar offence. 

McNiffe was ordered to pay £2,666 in fines and a £190 victim surcharge. Additionally, he was ordered to pay Wokingham Borough Council £3,120 in legal and investigatory costs for bringing the case to court.    

The result underlines the council’s determination to take action against people who ignore planning laws. 

In rural areas, this can have significant negative impacts on communities and the environment. The council will always act to protect them in the borough, in instances like this.  

The two enforcement notices, issued in 2015 and 2020, required McNiffe to:  

• Cease the use of the land for the storage of vehicles and caravans
• Cease the use of the land for the siting of storage containers (including shipping containers and lorry bodies, and storage of non-agricultural and non-horticultural items)
• Remove all vehicles, including cars, vans, caravans and fire engine from the land
• Remove all storage containers, including contents, and non-agricultural and non-horticultural items from the land

The resident failed to comply with the notices by the required compliance dates. Following further warnings, the council began legal proceedings, resulting in September’s sentences handed down by Reading Magistrates.

Since then, McNiffe has still not complied with the enforcement notices, and the council is continuing to pursue his full compliance with them.

Failure to comply with an enforcement notice by the required compliance date is a criminal offence. The maximum sentence is an unlimited fine.