Killian Garvey, acting for East Riding of Yorkshire Council, assisted with securing a dismissal of an enforcement appeal in relation to the use of land for the siting of caravans for human habitation.

The Appellant argued that the enforcement action had been brought too late, on the basis that he had been living on the land in the caravan for a period longer than 10 years and thus the development was immune from enforcement.

During the course of the inquiry, the Appellant was cross examined for 3½ hours. At the conclusion of this cross-examination, the Appellant had conceded that:

1. he and/or his agents had positively concealed his use of the caravan from the Council at the relevant time;
2. all the records and evidence from outside his family were inconsistent with his version of events – albeit it was suggested that all these records were mistaken;
3. his wife’s own version of events contradicted his – albeit it was again suggested that his wife was mistaken.

Following these concessions, the Council called no evidence at the inquiry.

The Inspector accepted the entirety of the Council’s closing arguments and awarded a full costs award against the Appellant.

The Appeal Decision can be found here.

The Costs Decision can be found here.