Havering (Parliament Politics Magazine) – The Grade II-listed Berwick Manor Hotel in Rainham, Havering, has been served an enforcement notice over an alleged planning breach on green belt land.
On October 3, the notice was delivered to The Berwick Manor Hotel, located on Berwick Pond Road.
The action’s specifics have been made public on the Havering Council website’s enforcement actions page.
The notification states that “the erection of marquees at the rear and the side of the property” without planning approval is the alleged violation of planning control.
The hotel is now expected to “remedy the breach” and “any injury to amenity” caused by the alleged breach, which is believed to have occurred during the last four years.
The Grade-II listed Berwick Manor Hotel has a fascinating history, having served as a nightclub and country club from 1967 to 1999.
The “erection of a marquee permanently” was the subject of a part-retrospective planning application submitted to the council in December 2023.
In August of this year, the Havering Council denied the application.
Since then, the planning committee has brought up several concerns about the marquee in the enforcement notice.
They wrote:
“The rear marquee, by reason of its scale and sitting, has an undue impact upon the amenities surrounding residential occupiers by reason of an unacceptable degree of noise and disturbance.”
Additionally, a side building with a canopy marquee has been judged to have “adversely affected the street scene,” compromising the listed hotel’s and the green belt’s openness.
The side structure with the canopy marquee, decking, fencing, and roofing, as well as the back marquee, must immediately be demolished and removed from the Berwick Manor Hotel.
Request for comment has not received a response from the hotel.
What penalties follow non‑compliance with an enforcement notice?
Not following an enforcement notice is a criminal offence. Local authorities can initiate prosecutions when there is enough evidence to do so through either local or Crown Courts, depending on the seriousness of the offence. The maximum fine for a prosecution in a Magistrates’ Court is £20,000, but Crown Courts can impose unlimited fines.
If someone’s breach continues, the court may grant an injunction to stop them from continuing to carry out the unauthorised use or works. Breaching the injunction can result in serious penalties, such as imprisonment.
The council may carry out the required works themselves and seek to recover the costs of work from the owner or occupier responsible for the breach.