The owners of a nature reserve at the centre of a bitter planning dispute have been ordered to remove unauthorised buildings – or face the possibility of jail.
Leo Deen, 49, has run the Timbersbrook Project, in Bosley, since 2003 as a visitors’ attraction for children to learn about wildlife.
But the site has been at the centre of a long-running planning battle, with Cheshire East Council claiming he does not have the appropriate planning permission.
In August 2011, council officers destroyed outbuildings and confiscated animals.
Since then, Mr Deen has rebuilt large parts of it on wheels in a bid to keep it open, with a tent serving as an education centre.
But council bosses took him and his partner, Catherine Wincote, 41, to the High Court, claiming they were in breach of an enforcement notice by continuing to run it as an educational site.
At Birmingham High Court on Wednesday, June 12, the couple signed an undertaking to remove all unauthorised buildings and structures from the site. They were warned hey may be sent to prison if they fail to carry out these steps.
Mr Deen now says he will re-apply for permission to use it as an educational premises.
He told the Express: “Anything that is agricultural we are allowed to keep, but everything else I will take down.
“We are now going to put planning permission back in to turn it into a recreational site.”
Council leader Michael Jones said: “It is a real tragedy that this has had to go this far. Mr Deen did not work with the council and chose to ignore enforcement action.
“The public rightfully expects that the council protects and preserves designated areas, and this use represented an unacceptable development in the green belt.
“The court’s acceptance of the undertaking demonstrates Cheshire East Council was justified in taking action.”
