Eastbourne homeowner to pay thousands to council for 'eyesore' garden

They were said to have ignored multiple requests to clean the “eyesore” up and a Section 215 untidy land notice was served.

Neighbours described the garden in Selmeston Road, Eastbourne, as “grossly neglected”.

One person said: “The garden had transformed into a dire state of disarray, causing severe environmental concern, discomfort and annoyance to neighbours who had repeatedly voiced their concerns.”

The garden filled with rubbish (Image: Supplied)

Last Tuesday, Eastbourne Borough Council enforcement officers went to the property and cleared it.

A skip was placed outside and workers spent hours clearing the front garden.

Councillor Colin Swansborough, cabinet member for community spaces, said: “Neighbours were fed up with having to live near this awful mess which had become less of a garden and more of a dumping ground.

“Our officers made it clear to the home owner that this was unacceptable and they needed to tidy up their land. When these requests were consistently ignored, our planning enforcement team quite rightly, took direct action.

“We will not tolerate this kind of blight on our environment.”

The garden after being cleared (Image: Supplied)

Following the home owner’s failure to respond to the Section 215 notice, a charge was made on the house to cover the clearance costs – which ran into thousands of pounds. The council said this will be recovered when the property is sold.

It comes after enforcement action in East Dean Rise, Seaford, in January this year where a garden was full of rubble, discarded furniture and had a car in it.

The debris took two and a half days to remove and filled the front, rear and side garden of the house.

The owner was charged £2,700 for the clearance work.

In May, another “eyesore” garden full of broken furniture, old mattresses and bags of litter was cleared after an enforcement order.

A Section 215 untidy land notice was served on the property in Milfoil Drive, Eastbourne.

The residents had ignored council requests to tidy the land and fix broken garden fences.