Record £80k fine imposed for demolition without consent of house in conservation area

A man who demolished a 19th century house in a conservation area without consent has been hit with a record sum for the offence, after a prosecution brought by the London Borough of Richmond.

John Johnson was ordered this week to pay an £80,000 fine plus £42,500 in prosecution costs. He will also have to meet his own legal costs. Failure to pay would mean he has to serve 21 months’ imprisonment.

Mr Johnson bought the semi-detached, late Regency/early Victorian house at 6 Trafalgar Road in 2007 for more than £1m. The property had been designated as a “building of townscape merit” and is in the Trafalgar Road Conservation Area.

He obtained planning permission in June 2010 to refurbish and extend the house. But the defendant ordered its complete demolition in January 2011.

Richmond Council prosecuted Mr Johnson on the basis that  he “did execute or cause to be executed works for the demolition of a building within a conservation area at 6 Trafalgar Road, Twickenham, TW2 5EJ without the required authorisation, contrary to section 7(1), as modified by section 74(3), and section 9 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990.”

Mr Johnson pleaded guilty at the magistrates’ court. The prosecution successfully argued that the penalties in the magistrates’ court were insufficient, given the seriousness of the case, and so proceedings were transferred to the Crown Court in Kingston.

Sentencing Mr Johnson, His Honour Judge Dodson said the case was one of the worst of its kind and that the defendant was “highly culpable”.

The judge added: “It may be that in a few years to a casual observer the visual impact [of the rebuild] will be unnoticeable, but nothing can alter the fact that it is a replica.”

Richmond said the fine took into consideration “the irreplaceable harm to the conservation area and loss of heritage together with the considerable savings that Mr Johnson believed he could make by demolishing the property and rebuilding it, rather than extending and refurbishing, as set out in the original approved planning application”.

Cllr Virginia Morris, the authority’s Cabinet member for Environment and Planning, said she welcomed the court’s decision to fine Mr Johnson.

“I hope that this will now demonstrate to residents and other developers in the borough that planning regulations need to be taken very seriously and cannot be disregarded or disrespected,” she added.

“I hope this will serve as a deterrent to those considering not complying with planning and conservation requirements. Those who flout the law in such matters will have to face the consequences.”

Counsel for Richmond was Gary Grant of Ely Place, instructed by Guy Bishop from the authority’s legal services department.

An article by Gary Grant on the issues involved in the case will appear on Local Government Lawyer shortly.