Developer who failed to complete work ordered to pay £8,000

Wasaf Hussain was due to go on trial on Friday over claims he has failed to meet the planning conditions of a residential development in Crossflatts.

But he instead changed his plea to the charge – breaching an enforcement notice, to guilty, and was ordered to pay £8,107 by magistrates.

The charges relate to land next to Ryshworth Hall and Crossflatts Cricket Club, off Keighley Road.

In 2020 Hussain, 38, of Malvern Crescent, Riddlesden, was granted planning permission to convert a number of barns on the site into housing.

One of the conditions of this approval was that he would need to create safe vehicle access to the site and a fully surfaced and drained turning area on the site.

The incomplete access road to the site (Image: T&A)

Despite the barn conversion being completed and occupied, the highway works never were, and in 2024 Bradford Council decided to issue Hussain with an enforcement notice demanding the work be carried out.

He had previously been fined £2,000 for his failure to comply, and at Friday’s hearing  Magistrates were told the Council decided to prosecute Hussain for his continuing failure to get the work done.

Miss Hoskins, prosecuting on behalf of Bradford Council, told the court of the “complicated history” of the development of this site.

As well as the barn conversions, Hussain had planned to build seven further homes on the site, next to the cricket pitch.

He was originally granted planning permission to carry this development out – but that permission was later quashed by a judicial review.

Five homes had already been built by this point, and Hussain was ordered to demolish these properties.

He has been issued with a separate enforcement notice in relation to this demolition.

Miss Hoskins said that the current court case was only in relation to the enforcement notice for the access and turning point, not the unauthorised homes.

She said: “The condition was to ensure means of vehicular and pedestrian access.

“When the barn conversion became occupied the Council decided to take enforcement action. He needed to comply with it by May 2024. The notice was not complied with.”

She told the court that Hussain had already paid a £2,000 fine and £1,536 costs for failure to complete the work.

Miss Hosking added: “He is before the court today because of the continuing offence – the position has not changed.

“The current access is not adequate. It is a busy road and the visibility of the access road is not appropriate. The Council’s position is that the work remains incomplete.

“We understand this is an issue that he can’t resolve overnight, but this dates back to 2024, and the conditions were first drawn up in 2020. He has only taken the issue seriously when a criminal procedures have begun.”

Miss Shabir, defending, said the fact that planning permission for the further development of the site had been quashed had severely impacted Hussain’s plans.

She said: “He obtained planning for a further seven homes successfully. He built five of these homes, then that planning decision went to a judicial review, and overnight planning was removed. He has since made further planning applications to resolve the issue, but he has been ordered to demolish the five properties.

“He has made a significant loss on this site.”

She said the repeated breach of the enforcement notice was partly down to his inability to control the timescales of the third parties he had employed to carry out work on the site. Miss Shabir said: “He can’t rush these third parties to get this work done. He is trying to get the work done, but sometimes it is out of his control."

He was in the process of finally proceeding with the work – the court was told.

Miss Shabir added: “He is very remorseful for his actions. He has done what is within his powers to do. I’d like the court to consider the huge financial loss he has suffered.”

Magistrates pointed out that the failure to complete the road had created dangers for road users and pedestrians.

He was fined £4,500 and ordered to pay £1,807 costs to the Council.

Hussain will also have to pay a £1,800 court surcharge.