MALVERN Hills District Council has cleared an abandoned building site in Kempsey after it prosecuted and fined the landowner for not complying with an enforcement notice.
The tidy-up order for the Baptist Chapel site on Church Street was served on May 21, 2018 – it required the landowner to demolish a partly constructed building and remove overgrown vegetation.
Planning permission had been granted in October 2008 for two houses on the site and whilst one of the houses was completed, the other was only partly built and then left to deteriorate.
Since then, the site had become overgrown and the partly constructed building was considered to have a detrimental impact on the visual appearance of the Kempsey Conservation Area.
After being prosecuted in April 2019, the owner was given a final chance to clear the site but after still failing to do so the council brought in contractors to carry out the work.
The work was completed in two phases with two separate contractors.
Firstly, the removal of the building, which was completed on July 16, 2020, and secondly, the clearance of the overgrown vegetation which was completed during the last week of November 2020.
Coun David Harrison, the council’s portfolio holder for planning, infrastructure and flooding, said: “Malvern Hills District Council will seek to ensure that the character and appearance of our conservation areas are protected.
“We will not hesitate to take formal action where it is necessary and in the public interest to do so.”
