Two residents have been ordered to pay legal costs to the council after they were found to have ‘unlawfully’ stored building materials in protected woodland. 

Planning inspector Graham Self upheld an enforcement notice issued to Dean and Candice Jules by Wokingham Borough Council, after they contested the initial decision. 

Mr Self concluded that what had occurred on land at The Coombes, off Coombes Lane in Barkham “amounted to development” in planning law and, as permission was not obtained, “constituted a breach of planning control”. 

Woodland at The Coombes, which is a designated Local Wildlife Site and subject to a Tree Preservation Order, has been protected since 2018 after it was incorrectly marketed as being available for development.  

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At least eight plots were sold to buyers, including Mr and Mrs Jules, and the council subsequently obtained a High Court injunction against the couple. 

This ruling forbade them from bringing or storing building materials on the site, carrying out building works, setting up mobile dwellings, installing roads or other engineering works, or impacting the trees. 

The council had initially obtained photographic evidence that they were storing objects including timber, metal spikes and poles, furniture, concrete blocks, windows, a barbecue and pallets at the site. 

The Jules’ appealed against the notice when it was issued, but it has been dismissed by the inspector as the council was “within their rights” to demand the “unauthorised development” to cease.

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Mr Self has ordered them to pay the local authority’s appeal costs and insisted all items, except those legitimately needed for forestry, to be removed by August 4. 

The appellants had claimed they weren’t responsible for the items, but Mr Self stated in his report that this was “not believable” as they had admitted leaving the items in written statements. 

They also claimed that the objects were linked to forestry and the storage at the site was temporary, but the inspector decided that the site had “clearly” been in use for longer than the 28 days allowed by law before permission is required. 

The case is the latest in a lengthy history of enforcement and legal proceedings against the couple relating to The Coombes, including an order to remove a timber building being used as a home, which had been built without planning permission. 

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The case went to the High Court, where a judge stated they were “reckless” in finishing the work and moving into the building against the terms of the court injunction. 

Executive member for planning and local plan, Councillor Lindsay Ferris, said the council is “not surprised” by the inspector’s findings and emphasised its “strong track record” in taking action against those carrying out work without permission. 

“We will continue to defend this site from unlawful development, as we do across the borough, and would remind anyone considering building work to seek our planning team’s advice if they aren’t sure whether it needs consent,” he added.