THOUSANDS of pounds in costs have been paid out by Herefordshire Council after decisions and enforcement notices issued by planners were reversed at appeal.

The amount in costs awarded against Herefordshire Council between April 2018 and March 2023 has been revealed in a freedom of information request. 

The amount the council has been ordered to pay in costs to appellants in the period comes to a total of £42,085.59.

The highest costs paid, totalling £8,695, were awarded to Brigid Eakins in October 2022, after a planning inspector found that Herefordshire Council's deemed refusal to grant a lawful development certificate was not well-founded.

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Ms Eakins had applied for the certificate to allow a caravan to be sited for use "ancillary to the lawful agricultural use of the land".

Next up were costs totalling £7,439.83 awarded to Carwyn and Catherine Thomas in October 2018 after the couple appealed against an enforcement notice issued by Herefordshire Council in February that year.

The council alleged they had breached planning rules by erecting a fence that was too tall at Scotch Firs in Fownhope, ordering them to cut its height to a maximum of one metre by by June 1, 2018.

But inspector Elizabeth Jones found that the enforcement notice did not set out what the relevant planning policies seek to achieve and did not allow anyone served with it to understand why the notice was issued, among other issues, declaring the notice a nullity.

Similarly high costs, totalling £7,300, were awarded to Thorne Motor Company in Woofferton in 2021, after Herefordshire Council withdrew an enforcement notice. 

The notice, a costs decision published by The Planning Inspectorate said, had alleged that the business had breached planning rules by changing the use of land without permission.

It said the land had been used for car restoration and paint spraying, with a flue erected on the roof of a building. 

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But when withdrawing the notice, Herefordshire Council said that while they had considered there had been a material change of use for the land from car restoration to a mixed use for car restoration and paint spraying, further investigation showed the use was ancillary to the authorised use.

The council said the flue was unauthorised and would be investigated separately.

In total, Herefordshire Council was ordered to pay costs in 14 cases during the period.

A Herefordshire Council spokesperson said there were no appeal cost awards or partial cost awards made against an applicant in the council's favour by planning inspectors during the same period.