I’ve been fined £869 for painting my house and getting new windows – power-trip council is trying to bully me
A HOMEOWNER who was slapped with an £869 fine for painting his house has slammed the council for going on a "power-trip".
Aneel Zafar, 32, has been battling with officials over the makeover he gave his Stoke-on-Trent home for four years.
And, although he says he's already spent £15,000 on the process he's vowed to continue fighting - despite this week being prosecuted for the second time and slapped with an £869 fine.
He said: "They've been trying to bully me. Unless I do something about it I am going to be prosecuted again and again and again.
"But I am not going to give in. The council wants me to put in wooden windows - it is on a power trip."
Aneel bought his home on Victoria Park Road in Tunstall in 2014 and splashed £20,000 on plastic windows and paint four years later.
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But he says he was unaware that in 2007 the area was given "conservation" status to protect its "rich history and character".
That meant permission needs to be granted for any building work, including the installation of new windows.
Because Aneel failed to apply, he faced action from the council.
He said: "My old wooden windows had holes in them and air was getting into the house.
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"I did not think I was doing anything wrong in replacing them as 75 per cent of my road has uPVC windows. But the council prosecuted me.
"When I had my windows changed, the council said it sent me a letter saying I had three months to appeal. I did not receive that letter.
"After the three months, the appeal period had gone.
"Then I started receiving enforcement letters threatening to take me to court."
This week the North Staffordshire Justice Centre heard that Aneel was first prosecuted by the Stoke-on-Trent City Council in 2020 and fined £268 after he failed to comply with an enforcement notice issued in 2018.
reported that he was then prosecuted for a second time after his High Court appeal against the initial case was dismissed.
While Aneel admitted breaching the enforcement notice, he is now planning to take his case to the Planning Inspectorate.
The council wants me to put in wooden windows - it is on a power trip.
Aneel Zafar
Council prosecutor Colette Lamb said: "In June, 2018, it was brought to the council's attention that works had been undertaken to the property; the painting of the front elevation in dark grey and installation of uPVC windows.
"It is located in a designated conservation area where Article 4 Directions remove some of the permitted development rights.
"On October 31, 2018, the council served a planning enforcement notice requiring the removal of the uPVC windows and to reinstate timber windows to replace those that had been put in.
"He was also required to repaint a rendered section of the wall to the front using white paint.
"An initial period of compliance was given and he was convicted on January 20, 2020. A further period of compliance was allowed.
"The defendant was unable to comply with the notice due to Covid and requested an extension.
"The council agreed to this and extended the date to October 31, 2021.
An initial period of compliance was given and he was convicted on January 20, 2020.
Colette Lamb
"Site visits were conducted on November 8, 2021 and February 23, 2022 and the notice had not been complied with."
Justin Price-Jones, mitigating, said: "It is not a case of him exercising wilful defiance.
"He was not simply defying the court or the council - he has a genuine concern.
"The cost of the windows is significant, many thousands of pounds.
"It is not something he treated lightly originally and not something he wants to get wrong if he puts them back to the original condition.
"In terms of a financial penalty it is clear that if you impose a significant fine it's going to distract from the work the council is forcing him to carry out.
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"I would ask the court to exercise leniency."
Aneel was then slapped with the nearly £900 fine.