An enforcement notice is set to be issued during the next 24 hours requesting that a Burnham-On-Sea land owner stops using her garden as the base for a caravan occupied by a Big Issue seller.
Burnham-On-Sea.com reported in February how Big Issue seller Colin Johnstone (pictured) could be forced to move out of his caravan because of a row over planning permission.
The 59 year-old’s plight also caught the attention of the national press.
It came after Sedgemoor District Council had demanded that the owner of the garden where Colin’s caravan is located must apply for planning permission.
Now, Sedgemoor’s Senior Enforcement Control Officer Paul Morrisey told Burnham-On-Sea.com this week: “We will be issuing an enforcement notice during the next 24 hours after it was alleged there had been a change of use of land. The caravan has in effect become a dwelling and we are therefore asking that the land owner ceases using the land for the caravan within three months.”
Mr Morrisey explained that if a caravan parked on someone’s property is used independently from the main house, then planning permission is needed to change the use of the land.
The rules state that if someone sleeps in the caravan but uses the house to wash and prepare food, permission isn’t needed, but if it is a seperate dwelling, the owners need to apply to the council.
The garden’s owner, Sylvia Sparkes of Steart Avenue, told Burnham-On-Sea.com on Thursday morning (March 29th): “I am hoping to appeal, but it all boils down to how much it will cost me to do so. I can’t put Colin back out onto the streets.”
“I really don’t think the council properly understands the situation. While Colin sleeps in the caravan and uses a TV, he doesn’t eat or cook there.”
RELATED LINKS:
Burnham-On-Sea Big Issue seller’s eviction fight gets national attention
