Council halts Persimmon Homes work for second time over planning breach

Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council has ordered Persimmon Homes to stop work at its 239-home Brascote Park development, claiming the housebuilder jumped the gun by starting construction before all planning conditions had been finalised.

The temporary stop notice, the second the council has issued to Persimmon in under a year, was served earlier this month and requires the developer to immediately halt all unauthorised works, including topsoil stripping, bund creation, pond construction, and building site infrastructure.

The Brascote Park scheme, originally rejected twice by the council, with one councillor branding it a “stupid application” eventually secured outline planning permission on appeal last May.

Reserved matters approval for the project was granted more recently, with Persimmon acquiring the land from Richborough Estates.

Despite the notice, Persimmon maintains it has acted within the scope of approved enabling works and insists the council’s move is “unwarranted.”

The company says the section 106 agreement governing site preparation was agreed prior to its involvement and hasn’t been altered.

Chris Brown, head of planning at Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council said “It is disappointing to see that once again Persimmon have gone above and beyond the enabling works they are allowed to carry out at this stage. The council is willing to work with housebuilders in the interests of our residents and to deliver much-needed housing, but we will use our powers to prevent unauthorised works when necessary.”

In November, Persimmon was similarly ordered to stop work on an 81-home scheme in Earl Shilton after allegedly exceeding the scope of early-stage groundwork.

A Persimmon Homes spokesperson said: “We’re disappointed by the Council’s decision to issue a Stop Notice at Brascote Park. We believe this decision is unwarranted and risks causing unnecessary delays to the delivery of much-needed new homes for local families on an allocated housing site.

“All works have been carried out entirely within the permissions. The Section 106 agreement, including the scope of enabling works, was set at the outline planning stage before Persimmon’s involvement in the site and we haven’t sought to make any alterations to this agreement. We’ve worked constructively with the Council throughout and are keen to resolve this quickly.”

The authority says it is open to dialogue with the housebuilder and will meet with the firm to address its concerns.

Non-compliance with the order could result in prosecution and fines.