Man fined £18,000 for illegal River Thames development

A man who built an illegal development on the banks of the River Thames and failed to pull it down has been fined.

Simon Courtney-Worthy, 62, built timber decking and a shed on a site in Long Wittenham, Oxfordshire, despite them breaching planning regulations and harming a conservation area.

South Oxfordshire District Council told him to demolish it, remove all of the materials and regrass the area.

But he failed to comply with two enforcement notices.

Courtney-Worthy, of Long Wittenham, was issued with a first notice in January 2019 but he failed to comply with its deadline of September that year.

He also failed to comply with notices between September 2019 and February 2021, the second of which told him to stop using the land for mooring a boat for residential purposes and to remove the boat.

He admitted two counts of failing to comply with an enforcement notice at Oxford Magistrates' Court on 28 July.

Courtney-Worthy was fined £13,000 for failing to comply with the enforcement notices. He was also told to pay the council's costs of £5,511 and a victim surcharge of £180 - a total of £18,691.

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