Worcester garages knocked down without planning permission

The garages in Tearne Street were demolished at the end of March - but approval should have been sought from the city council beforehand.

Bertie Ballinger, who is standing as a Conservative candidate for the St Clement ward in the upcoming election, lives in the area.

Conservative candidate Bertie Ballinger says the situation sets a dangerous precedent (Image: Bertie Ballinger)

“On March 16 I noticed that the roof on some of the garages had been taken off,” he said. “While this isn’t odd, I made note of it.

“Later on, more of the garages were being knocked down, until on March 28 when the majority of the garages had come down.

“From previously working on planning permission, I believed that to knock these down the landowner needed planning permission. I emailed the planning enforcement team about this for them to investigate.

“Two weeks later, enforcement attended the site and came to the conclusion that planning permission was required and hadn’t been submitted, but because it was likely that it would have been granted no action will be taken against the landowner.”

Mr Ballinger said that he, fellow election candidate Seb James, and other residents find the situation troubling.

He said it sets a “dangerous precedent that Worcester city planning won’t enforce the law and local planning rules in the future.

“The landowner has assured the planning department that they will apply for planning permission soon to convert the site into a car park and build new accommodation.

Bertie Ballinger and Seb James say they are keeping track of the situation (Image: Bertie Ballinger)

“But given the landowners’ lack of respect for the planning department and the lack of enforcement from the department, anything could happen now.

“Seb and I will continue to work with local residents regarding this ongoing situation.”

A spokesman for the city council said: “We have told the landowner that he should have sought approval before demolishing these garages and stressed that he took this action at his own risk.

“We have asked for details of how the site will be made safe and tidied up, and we will take enforcement action if necessary.

“Any future development at this site will need planning permission.”