I’ve been forced to tear down my extension and pay a £2k fine – I’ve been made to feel like a criminal
A DISTRAUGHT wife has slammed a council for making her feel like a “horrible criminal” for building an “illegal” utility room extension and a wall to protect her privacy.
Sevlin Aslan said there had been a "misunderstanding" over the plans - and had been left suffering from anxiety and distress.
The mum-of-one and her husband Ismail have been dragged into court and fined nearly £2,000 for building a side extension and new wall without planning permission at their home in Leicester.
The couple put up the single-storey extension with an attached canopy keep a washing machine, dryer and freezer in, plus a boundary brick wall to replace a broken wooden one at the same height .
But they had not sought council approval, which planners stated was a "blatant disregard" for council regulations and said should "be a warning to anyone who believes they can flout rules."
In despair, Sevlin, who moved to the in 2008, wept: "I am a decent person, I am not a horrible murderer or drug dealer but I am being made to feel like one.
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"My local council has made me and my husband feel like one, they have treated us like s***. They have no empathy, the have no heart, and they are making me feel so bad."
She insisted: "I’ve done nothing wrong. There was a misunderstanding, maybe because of a language barrier.
"We pay our taxes, we don’t claim any benefits and we are decent members of society. What have they got against us?
"This is so distressing, I can't sleep, I’m upset all the time and so my thirteen-year-old son is too."
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She and her husband moved into their home in 2019 and run a pizza and kebab takeaway business.
They paid £15,000 for the extension in April 2020, but just a month after it was finished Blaby District Council informed them they were in breach of planning rules.
The couple were told to apply to retrospective planning permission for the "illegal development" which they did in July 2021.
However, it was refused due to its "unsatisfactory design and external appearance".
Council planners ruled that the development represented an "incongruous, dominant and significantly prominent feature that was considerably out of keeping with the character and appearance of the locality".
The family was given an enforcement notice in August last year, ordering them to remove the extension and reduce the height of the wall from two meters to one.
They tried to appeal but the Planning Inspectorate dismissed their case earlier this year.
When Sevlin and Ismail refused to comply with the notice, they were prosecuted and fined nearly £2,000.
She recalled: "In June this year the council said we had 21 days to take everything down which we did. We were allowed the leave the wall at a meter high but had to take out all the brick supports.
"I got a court summons on my birthday...it was terrifying."
While the extension and canopy have been removed and the height of the boundary wall reduced by half, in compliance with the enforcement notice, they are still awaiting a decision over a new planning application.
Council planning officer Ben Taylor said: “We’re pleased with the outcome of the prosecution and the vindication of our decision to refuse permission for this blatant disregard of planning rules.
"Let this also be a warning to anyone who believes they can flout rules. Our rigorous enforcement processes means you are putting yourself at risk of getting a criminal record and this can have serious impacts on other aspects of your life."
He added: "We will not sit by and allow people to ride roughshod over planning policies.
"The policies are in place to protect our neighbourhoods and ensure developmental standards are upheld.
"I’m proud of and grateful to our planning enforcement team for their professionalism and effectiveness at stopping unauthorised development, not just here in Braunstone but across our Blaby district. They will always have my full support."
Blaby District Council have been contacted for a response related to Sevlin's claims.
If homeowners wish to build anything new, make major changes to an existing building (like an extension) or change the use of a building, they will need planning permission.
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Residents then need to contact their Local Planning Authority through their local council to submit an application.
Ignoring an enforcement notice is illegal and if a council issues one, the recipient has to either comply or appeal the notice.
