A BUSINESSMAN has been fined £10,000 for failing to put right unauthorised engineering works at a rural site.

David Wallbank appeared at Bradford and Keighley Magistrates Court on Thursday charged with being in contravention of an enforcement notice issued by Bradford Council in 2019.

He admitted the charge, which related to a large amount of soil deposited at the former Wicken Crag Quarry site off Halifax Road, Cross Roads.

At the time the enforcement notice was issued, Wallbank, 62, of Higher Springhead, Oakworth, was director of Keighley Tree Services, based on the site.

The notice said “excavated material” had been deposited to form an embankment, which was a “prominent and incongruous feature”.

The court was told the breaches had been ongoing for several years.

Ruksana Kosser, prosecuting on behalf of the council, said: “The council received a query about unauthorised work to land around Keighley Tree Services.

“In January 2018, a letter was sent to the owners explaining there was no record of any application for engineering works on the site.

“They would have to either show planning permission had been obtained, put in a retrospective application or address the breach by removing the unauthorised engineering works and restoring the land.”

Mrs Kosser said numerous visits were subsequently made to the site and each time it was obvious the engineering works were still in place.

Wallbank was served an enforcement notice in October 2019.

She told magistrates: “The breach is still outstanding, and because of this failure to comply a prosecution was authorised.”

A retrospective application was submitted in 2021 but planners refused it.

And a new retrospective application was submitted to the council after the prosecution proceedings had begun.

Shemuel Sheikh, representing Wallbank, told the court: “The reason he moved this soil in the first place was because a landslip had damaged the property.

“Water was running into a substation. That was the reason the soil was moved.

“It was for safety reasons.”

He said the work had cost Wallbank around £30,000, adding: “If he didn’t move this soil it would damage his property.

“Rather than being an offence he benefitted from, it's one that has cost him a significant amount of money.”

Mr Sheikh added: “Retrospective planning is not necessarily encouraged, but it is not unlawful. The new application will resolve all the issues."

Wallbank was fined £10,000 and ordered to pay £2,685 costs and a £190 surcharge.