Imran today called for a review of the planning rules following the Council’s decision to take enforcement action against a 70-year-old great-grandmother’s home. 

Marion Majors, a great-grandmother aged 70, has been given three months’ notice to move out of her home after losing an appeal against the initial refusal to grant planning permission, despite the refusal of the council to consider her health and mobility problems, and the fact she would be forced to move from her family home of over 40 years.

Imran has written to the Leader of Bradford Council to request that this planning application is heard again so that consideration can be given to Ms Major’s disabilities, branding it shocking to continue enforcement without applying common sense, a degree of proportionality and human decency to this situation. He has also called for greater compassion within the planning rules so that people are put before bureaucracy and red tape.

Ms Majors spent her entire life saving building the annexe that is her home, and suffers from rheumatoid arthritis, bowel disease and a degenerative spine disease amongst other further health complications.

Whilst the council have stated that the appeal was lost due to the effect the structure has on the visual and residential amenity of the area, it is impossible to see the annexe from the roadside and neighbouring back gardens have many similar sized structures made of many different materials. Consequently, the vast majority of her neighbours support Ms Majors, leading her to garner over 800 signatures on an online petition calling for the enforcement decision to be overturned.

Speaking on his call to review the planning rules Imran said:

”The decision by the Council to take enforcement action against Marion despite her age and difficult health conditions is deeply concerning, particularly as the decision would ruin her life savings and force her out of her family home of over 40 years.

“Planning enforcement officers need to look at issues such as this compassionately, with the leeway granted to them to do so, and it is time that they start using common sense and put people before bureaucracy and red tape.”