In the famous case of The Three Little Pigs v Big Bad Wolf the house of straw built by the First Little Pig was unfortunately no match for the destructive blowing power of the said Wolf.
So Robert Fidler, who had built a house at Salfords in Surrey, but had concealed its construction with a shield of straw bales to hide its existence from the council until the four year planning enforcement period had expired, may recently have found something in common with the First Little Pig. For on 3 February 2010, Sir Thayne Forbes in the High Court dismissed Mr Fidler’s appeal against a planning inspector’s decision upholding enforcement notices issued by Reigate and Banstead Borough Council (the council) on 16 February 2007 requiring (among other things) demolition of the house and reinstatement of the land. The case in question was Fidler v Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government and Reigate and Banstead Borough Council [2010] EWHC 143 (Admin).
Central to the issue was the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, s 171B(1). This contains the four year timescale for enforcement
