Landowner in Sheerness fined £2,025 for failing to remove illegal mobile home and motorhome

Stephen Dobkin was found guilty of breaching an enforcement notice at Medway Magistrates' Court on September 23. He was fined £375 and ordered to pay a £150 victim surcharge and £1,500 towards Swale Borough Council's legal costs, totaling £2,025. Swale Borough Council first took enforcement action in December 2022, ordering the residential use of land next to 241 Leysdown Road to stop and the mobile home and motorhome to be permanently removed. Mr Dobkin's appeal was rejected by a planning inspector in July 2023, and a six-month deadline was set for compliance. On the evening before the court hearing, he moved both units onto an adjoining access track, outside the area covered by the original enforcement notice. The council said it will launch a new investigation and consider further enforcement action if the units are not dismantled and removed.