Landowner fined £7,500 for gravel driveway

A GRAVEL driveway that was built on Green Belt land without planning permission has cost a Sutton Green man £7,500 in fines and costs.

In 2010, Vallipuram Balendran, owner of the land know as Greenland Nursery, Guildford Road, built a gravel driveway upto and surrounding the property located on the land without seeking planning permission from Woking Borough Council.

At Guildford Magistrates Court, Mr Balendran was found guilty of failing to comply with an Enforcement Notice and fined £5,000 and ordered to pay the Council's legal costs of £2,500. He will also have to remove the driveway at his own cost or else face further prosecution.

Cllr Graham Cundy, Portfolio Holder for Planning Implementation, said: "This case should act as a costly warning to anyone thinking of breaking the rules that the Council will not hesitate to prosecute offenders who ignore Enforcement Notices."