Blackpool bar ordered to pay £336k over planning breaches

Paul Kelly, owner of Ma Kelly’s, was fined £90,000 and ordered to pay a £225,000 confiscation order along with £21,000 costs.

He was warned that he must pay the confiscation order by 6 February 2018 or could face two and a half years in prison.

Mr Kelly’s business Ma Kelly’s Estates was additionally fined £56,000 while landlord Alveglen, the former owner of the building, saw £10,000 confiscated and was handed a fine and costs order of £1,500 each. Mr Kelly’s wife Paula was given a 24 months conditional discharge.

HHJ Parry said at Preston Crown Court that these sums were based on the venue’s turnover while it operated in defiance of planning conditions.

Blackpool Borough Council said it granted planning permission to convert the former furniture store to a bar in 2013 subject to conditions including installation of a frontage compatible with the surrounding area and adequate sound and vibration proofing.

Ma Kelly’s though started trading without these works being done and when informal approaches failed the case went to magistrates in September 2016, where all parties pleaded guilty.

The case was referred to crown court for sentencing and confiscation proceedings under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.

HHJ Parry said: “In a nutshell, those works were not complete till last week – October 2017; a staggering and persistent refusal to do what was required under the terms of the planning obligations imposed four and a half years earlier.”

The judge said: “I have not been provided with the cost involved in carrying out [the required] works, but it is a sure conclusion I make that carrying out those would have been considerably cheaper than the ultimate cost of these legal proceedings.”

Mark Smith, cabinet member for regeneration, enterprise and economic development at Blackpool, said: “Clearly the courts took a dim view of the lengthy and blatant disregard for these planning requirements. The large fines and confiscation orders reflected this.

“The situation could have been remedied at any time by carrying out the necessary works required to meet the enforcement notice.

“Given the timescales and inaction, the council was left with no option but to pursue a formal resolution through the courts.”

Mark Smulian