This is what council officials found when they visited a York house.
The garden was overgrown and filled with rubbish and the exterior of the house in dire need of TLC.
So bad was the neglect that City of York Council’s planning enforcement team prosecuted the homeowner, whose empty property was left in a poor condition for many years.
Timothy Charles Wileman, who owns 3 Upper St Pauls Terrace in Holgate, was prosecuted under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 where land is considered to “adversely affect the amenity of the area”.
The council first intervened in 2014 following complaints from neighbours about the condition of the rear of the property.
In February 2015 a Section 215 Notice was served on Mr Wileman, which took effect in April 2015, giving him until July 2015 to comply. He did not do so, and proceedings were issued.
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Mr Wileman did not attend the case heard at York magistrates’ (sitting at Leeds) or acknowledge the summons.
The case was proved in his absence and he was fined £500 and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £50 and prosecution costs of £345.
Mr Wileman is now required to remove overgrown vegetation and other rubbish from the land, repair and repainting of woodwork to the front and rear of the house, and repainting of previously painted brickwork to front and rear of the house.