THE owner of Cheshire Park Homes in Dunham Hill, near Frodsham, has been fined £6,000 for three offences of failing to comply with the conditions of the site’s licence.
Ryan Ashley Neill, 26, of Harlton Road, Cambridge, was accused of failing to maintain the site’s drainage systems, failing to have electrical installations regularly checked, and not having the appropriate site plan on the property.
At Northwich Magistrates Court, in his absence, he was convicted of all three charges - resulting in fines of £2000 for each offence - and ordered to pay the authority’s costs of £1838.25.
The court heard that members of the authority’s Regulatory Services Consumer Protection and Investigations Team, along with a drainage expert, made two visits to the site in February and April this year.
They found evidence of a drainage system that was almost completely beyond repair. They could find no evidence that electrical installations on the site had been properly checked since 2006 and no appropriate site plan – detailing emergency contact numbers for residents – was on-site.
Councillor Lynn Riley, Executive Member for Community and Environment, said: “The court’s decision sends out a strong message to caravan and mobile home site licence holders that neglecting high standards of maintenance, like electrical safety and drainage, will not go unchecked.
“There are more than 744 permanent residential caravans or mobile home units at 24 sites across West Cheshire and this authority takes their residents’ welfare extremely seriously.”
Local member, Councillor Eleanor Johnson, who has been actively involved with Cheshire Park Homes Residents Committee throughout the prosecution, said: “I am delighted with the outcome of this successful prosecution, as I know the Park’s residents are too.
“I hope this will serve as a warning to Mr Neill that as licence holder for the site he has a duty of care to the park’s residents.”
