Horse-owner who built stables, plumbed in caravan and placed shipping container on South Downs National Park told to pay £12,000

A horse-owner who built stables, plumbed in a caravan and even placed a shipping container on rural land in the South Downs National Park has been ordered to pay more than £12,000 in fines and costs and told to return the site to its original condition.
By Steve Deeks
Published 12th Sep 2023, 17:44 BST
Updated 12th Sep 2023, 17:44 BST
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The court win is the latest in a string of planning enforcement successes for East Hampshire District Council and demonstrates the council’s commitment to taking strong action against individuals that flout planning rules.

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The latest ruling comes after a decade of work by East Hampshire District Council’s planning enforcement team.

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Jane Soul, 65, of Eastleigh, was originally served with enforcement notices ordering her to remove stables and stop keeping horses on land in Privett back in 2013. Pic EHDCJane Soul, 65, of Eastleigh, was originally served with enforcement notices ordering her to remove stables and stop keeping horses on land in Privett back in 2013. Pic EHDC
Jane Soul, 65, of Eastleigh, was originally served with enforcement notices ordering her to remove stables and stop keeping horses on land in Privett back in 2013. Pic EHDC

Jane Soul, 65, of Eastleigh, was originally served with enforcement notices ordering her to remove stables and stop keeping horses on land in Privett back in 2013.

She initially complied with those notices, but between 2016 and 2020 she started to redevelop the site with new, larger stables and new hard surfacing.

She then purchased further land to the south of the site and placed a residential style caravan and shipping container with a catchment tank. The caravan was fitted with mains water connection, drainage, and had gas connected for heat and cooking. More shelters were erected and she continued to keep horses on the site.

As a result, planning enforcement officers, working on behalf of the South Downs National Park Authority, issued a further order in 2021, ordering her to remove the development.

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Soul appeared at Basingstoke Magistrates’ Court on September 4 this year where she was found guilty of breaching all three notices.

The judge said Soul’s actions showed a deliberate failure to comply with the planning authority and that the requirements of the notices were “crystal clear”.

Cllr Angela Glass, the council’s portfolio holder for regulation and enforcement, said: “We are going to be tough on people who breach our planning rules. We have reinforced our planning enforcement team to protect the rural areas and countryside of East Hampshire from harmful development.

“This has been a long-running case but our enforcement teams don’t give up lightly. I am very pleased we have managed to bring this case to court and the council has successfully prosecuted the offenders.”