Farmer would 'rather die in jail' than pay fine for knocking down wall he built
Ron Knight, 88, said he would rather go to prison in a row over a boundary wall than pay fines he claims are unjust.
A farmer has said he would rather 'die in prison' than pay fines for knocking down a boundary wall he built himself more than 40 years ago.
Ron Knight said he has spent six years in a "living nightmare" since receiving a planning enforcement notice from Somerset Council for removing part of a concrete wall to allow access to his land.
The 88-year-old built the wall himself in 1973 but when he took part of it down in 2017 he was told it was 'historic', in a conservation area and he needed planning permission.
He missed the deadline to appeal and how now appeared in court four times, racking up thousands of pounds in fines that he says he can't afford to pay.
In October, Knight was told by a judge that he would face 45 days in prison unless he rebuilt the wall and paid all fines.
But the pensioner, who said his pleas have fallen on deaf ears, said he would rather be locked up "if it's the last thing he does" than admit defeat.
He said: "It is getting us all down. We are all sick and tired and fed up. It doesn't matter what we say, they don't take any notice.
"Standing up for myself and being prepared to go to jail is the only way I can see to get anyone to see sense.
"If going to prison is the last thing I do on this earth, I will do it to stop this madness."
Knight moved to the village of Milborne Port in Somerset in 1957 and bought Cannon Court Farm with his two brothers around five years later.
When he sold it to retire to Devon in 1990 he kept six acres of land and three acres of allotments.
But he said neighbours claimed he had "blocked access" to his land and his "right of way" through their own developments, leaving him no choice but to remove part of the wall so he could access the area to maintain it.
He added: "Put politely, it's been a bloody nuisance. Six years now it's been going on.
"After we sold, we decided to keep six acres of land and some allotments. We had right of way to go through there - it was the only way to get into it.
"It was then blocked completely. I got two grandsons to help me take part of the wall down. We got the foundation out and made a gap so we could go out with the tractors and everything.
"I don't know who reported us to the council but I had a letter to say we had broken the law by digging out a conservation area - I did not know anything about a conservation area and neither did my two brothers.
"We had rebuilt that wall in 1973. They tried to argue we had taken down a historic wall. But if it's a historic wall why was it not back exactly how it was before?
"It is two foot lower now than it was. It is just a flat piece of concrete."
Knight, who has lived with wife Jean, 81, in Bampton, Devon, since selling the farm said they may be forced to sell their home if costs continue to increase.
He said: "My argument is that if that wall was ours in 1973, it is our wall now. Why are they kicking up some a volatile fuss? All we did was take down a part to make an entrance into our property we had no other way of getting into.
"I have been to court four times for it and been fined over £1k each time. I am now being taken to court again on 22 January but I have absolutely no intention of paying any fine. I would rather go to prison than pay it and I totally mean that.
"I am not paying it - why should I if it belongs to me. I don't care what they say or what they do.
His daughter Linda Knight said fines have now reached £3,200 and accused the council of "victimisation".
She said: "My dad is 88 and has his health problems. He's got a pacemaker and this is having health implications on him and my mum. He really stresses over it and it has been like a dark cloud hanging over us for the last six years."
"They have got nothing, and my dad said he would be prepared to spend time in jail than pay it. The council said it won't come to that, but he is not paying the fine, so I don't know what is the alternative.
"They just don't want to listen. It feels like victimisation. At the end of the day he took down part of a wall that belongs to him to attend to a piece of conservation land. Do they not want it looked after? How else did they think we could do that?
"It is about time they showed some heart and compassion."
'Unjustified harm'
Somerset Council defended its actions saying it was in the public interest to continue pursuing the matter, arguing that Knight had caused “unjustified harm” to a protected local structure.
A spokesman said: “The retrospective planning application was asking for the same requirements as the enforcement notice.
“We have applied the expediency test and public interest test to each step of this case.
“We consider that the creation of the access, necessitating the demolition or removal of a wide section of the historic stonewall and associated engineering work to the land behind, fails to safeguard the established character of the conservation area and has caused unjustified harm to a designated heritage asset.”
What are the rules on boundary walls in the UK?
According to the Homeowners Alliance, you can find out which fence or boundary wall is your responsibility by first looking at the deeds to your property, which should show the boundaries.
If you can’t find your scale plan in the paperwork you received when you bought the property, you can obtain a copy of your property's title deeds from the Land Registry.
Once you have the plan, you can see if there are 'T's on any of the boundaries, the HOA says, which indicates the ownership and responsibility to maintain the wall or fence.
'If the 'T' is matched by another 'T' on the boundary so it looks like an 'H', this shows the boundary to be a party wall/ fence," HOA guidance says.
"This means joint responsibility for the maintenance of the wall/fence."
Advice from Novello Surveyors, says under the Party Wall Act, certain work can be carried out on boundary walls, including thickening or raising them, repairing or demolishing them, and rebuilding where necessary.
But it adds: "However, it should be noted that this depends on notices being issued – your neighbour can’t simply start working on a boundary line when they want to.
"Instead, they must set out what they intend to do and serve written notice on you and any other adjoining owners at least two months before starting any party wall works. While you can’t prevent work that is allowed under the Act from being carried out, you can raise a dispute in response to the notice. This will require a party wall surveyor to assess the situation and make an award that determines how the works will be carried out."
