Shop boss fined thousands for not complying with enforcement notice from 14 years ago

THE owner of a Conservation Area business has been ordered to pay over £8,000 for failing to comply with an enforcement notice issued almost 14 years ago.

And Bradford’s Civic Society hopes the fine shows the owners of other protected buildings that they cannot “run roughshod over the law.”

Bradford Council first issued the legal notice to Mohammed Tayyab Khawaja in late 2010, ordering him to remove an unauthorised shop front and external roller shutters on 97-99 Oak Lane, Cha Cha Jewellers.

He had a deadline of February 2011 to remove the structures on the property – which lies in the North Park Road Conservation Area and was previously a pharmacy with a traditional wooden shop front.

On Thursday he appeared at Bradford and Keighley Magistrates Court charged with the breach of the enforcement notice – a charge he pleaded guilty to.

The court was told that this was one of several prosecutions of building owners on Oak Lane regarding enforcement notices that are going through the courts.

Ruksana Kosser, prosecuting on behalf of Bradford Council, said: “The enforcement notice required him to remove the modern shop front and install a traditional timber frontage.

“He had three months to comply. All recent visits have shown it is still there, and the Council took the view he should be prosecuted.”

Chair of the Bench Mr Morris-Armitage, said: “We’re here because in 2010 you put in shutters and you never bothered to get planning permission for them.

“Here we are in 2024 and the shutters are still there.”

Representing himself, Khawaja, aged 44, of Oakroyd Terrace, said he was initially not aware he needed planning permission.

He added: “Changing the front to a wooden frame…”

Mr Morris-Armitage interrupted to say: “No, changing it back to the wooden front it had before.”

The building before the shop's traditional frontage was replaced (Image: Google)

Khawaja continued: “Changing it would mean my store closing.”

Explaining the need for the shutters, he said he had three shops in Bradford, and the other two had been ram raided in the past.

When asked why he did not have internal shutters like many other jewellery shops, he said someone had once fired a pellet gun at the window, and so he needed to protect the glass.

The court suggested he installed unauthorised shutters because they were cheaper than internal ones.

Khawaja pointed out that numerous shops on Oak Lane had similar shutters.

Referring to this, Mrs Kosser said the Council had other planning enforcement prosecutions in the pipeline for businesses on Oak Lane.

She added: “It has become a political matter. A number of shops are already being prosecuted, and there will be more coming through the system.

“We are 14 years down the road – conversations have taken place about internal shutters, but things haven’t changed.”

Sentencing Khawaja, Mr Morris-Armitage said: “This is an offence that dates back to 2011 – here we are in 2024.”

Magistrates fined him £5,000 and ordered him to pay a £2,000 surcharge and the costs to the taxpayer of investigating the matter and bringing it to court - £1,388.

Mr Morris-Armitage told Khawaja the fine could have been much higher had he not pleaded guilty at an early stage.

When the court asked what the next steps were, Mrs Kosser said the enforcement notice was still in force, and that the shutters and frontage would still need to be removed.

Mr Morris-Armitage said: “We don’t want to be here again in 14 years’ time.”

Explaining the significance of the area’s heritage – the North Park Road Conservation Area Appraisal says: “Many of the villas and terraces were built for textile merchants and manufacturers and other tradesmen and professionals who were attracted to the town.

“The area developed as a desirable suburb of Bradford and the various houses give a unique insight into the architectural fashions of the time and give the area its strongly consistent character.”

Written in 2007, it describes weaknesses of the Conservation Area, saying: “Modern and inappropriately altered traditional shopfronts are common and are detracting from the street scene especially on Manningham Lane and Oak Lane.”

After the case, a Bradford Civic Society spokesman said: "In an ideal world nobody wants planning matters coming before the courts, it's costly and time consuming for all, but it is absolutely right to send a message that you can't right roughshod over the law in Bradford.

“That mentality has been accepted for too long now, so I'm pleased to see tougher action is being taken on a regular basis.

“Having high standards of design for listed buildings or in conservation areas is there to benefit the whole city. There's a reason why there are stricter rules for conservation areas, so I hope others take note of this recent case."