220Offence of failing to comply with maintenance of land notice(1)

A person on whom a copy of a maintenance of land notice has been served is guilty of an offence if any step required by the notice has not been taken by the end of the period allowed for compliance with the notice.

(2)

Subsection (3) applies where proceedings under subsection (1) are brought against a person who has, before the end of the period allowed for compliance with a maintenance of land notice, ceased to be an owner or occupier of the land to which the notice relates.

(3)

If the person lays an information to that effect and gives the prosecutor at least 3 clear days’ notice of the person’s intention, the person is entitled to have the subsequent owner or occupier brought before the court in the proceedings.

(4)

Subsections (5) and (6) apply where proceedings are brought against a person (the “original defendant”) for an offence under subsection (1), and a subsequent owner or occupier is made a party to the proceedings under subsection (3).

(5)

Where—

(a)

it is proved that any steps required by the maintenance of land notice have not been taken by the end of the period allowed for compliance with the notice, and

(b)

the original defendant proves that any failure to take those steps was due, in whole or in part, to the failure of the subsequent owner or occupier,

the subsequent owner or occupier may be convicted of the offence under subsection (1).

(6)

It is a defence for the original defendant to prove—

(a)

that any failure to take steps required by the maintenance of land notice was due, in whole or in part, to the failure of the subsequent owner or occupier, and

(b)

that the original defendant took all reasonable steps to ensure compliance with the notice.

(7)

A person guilty of an offence under subsection (1) is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale.

(8)

If a person convicted of an offence under subsection (1) does not, as soon as practicable after the conviction, do everything in the person’s power to secure compliance with the maintenance of land notice, the person is guilty of a further offence.

(9)

A person guilty of an offence under subsection (8) is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding one tenth of level 3 on the standard scale for each day on which the failure to take any steps required by the notice continues.

(10)

For the purposes of this section the period allowed for compliance with a maintenance of land notice is—

(a)

the period specified in the notice as the period within which the steps specified in it must be taken, or

(b)

a longer period allowed by the planning authority that issued the notice.

(11)

In this section “subsequent owner or occupier” means—

(a)

where proceedings have been brought against a person as an owner of land, a person who became an owner of the land on that person ceasing to be an owner;

(b)

where proceedings have been brought against a person as an occupier of land—

(i)

a person who became an occupier of the land on that person ceasing to be an occupier, or

(ii)

if there was no occupier of the land on that person ceasing to be an occupier, a person on whom a copy of the maintenance of land notice was served as an owner of the land.