Mother jailed for not paying £167k high-quality for illegally-built stables
- Tracie Carter, of Alvechurch, Worcestershire, has been locked up for a year
A woman who flouted planning laws to rent out illegally built stables on greenbelt land has been jailed for failing to tear them down and pay a £167,000 fine.
Tracie Carter, 52, instead splashed out on a holiday to Turkey and went on boozy nights out with her friends.
The mother was told to pay the whopping six-figure sum when she went ahead and built six stables and a mobile home on her land on Aqueduct Lane, in the village of Alvechurch, Worcestershire, despite being refused planning permission.
She has now been locked up for a year when she did not cough up the cash.
Carter was ordered by Kidderminster magistrates’ court in November 2022 to pay £167,378 and to tear down the stables and mobile home, which, according to council officers, was ‘evident’ she was living in.
Tracie Carter, 52, has been jailed for failing to pay a £167,000 fine after she built six stables and a mobile home on her land in Avelchurch, Worcestershire, without planning permission
The mother has now been locked up for a year by a district judge at Kidderminster magistrates’ court after failing to cough up the cash
She did not turn up to the same court for her earlier trial where she was found guilty in her absence.
A year later she was warned by a district judge at the same court she would face jail time if she did not make attempts to pay the hefty fine as he handed her a suspended sentence.
But on May 20 district judge Ian Strongman activated her 12 month prison term when he decided he was not satisfied that all efforts had been made to make the payment.
The stables with six horses – including a young foal – and mobile home where still there when MailOnline visited the land this week.
The close-knit community knew little about Carter when asked but said people had been seen coming and going to the property since she was jailed.
Carter had a planning application to build six stables rejected by Bromsgrove District Council in 2004 due to their scale and siting.
Documents show that councillors ruled it was an ‘inappropriate development in the green belt’ and said it would ‘unacceptably harm the openness’.
Carter, though, ignored the notice and built them anyway with a letterbox and sign placed outside reading ‘Aqueduct Stables’.
Overall, the land was developed with a mobile home with decking for residential use, large stable block, manège, haystore, fencing and vehicle access.
Carter ignored a planning refusal to build the stables (pictured) and then placed a letterbox and sign outside which read ‘Aqueduct Stables’. She advertised the site on Gumtree and rented out the stabled to a third party
Pictures on her Facebook page show her going on glammed-up nights out with her friends while another photo shows her on holiday to beach resort Alanya, in Turkey
The mobile home which was ‘evident’ Carter was living in still remains on the land when MailOnline visited this week
Six horses – including a young foal – could be seen grazing on the field of the land
Neighbours told MailOnline people have been seen coming and going at the property since Carter was jailed which still has horses on the land
The stables had been advertised by Carter on Gumtree and then rented out to a third party
This was then advertised on Gumtree as a sports facility and she went on to rent out the stables and equine facilities to a third party.
Pictures on her Facebook page posted since September last year show Carter enjoying a holiday at beach resort Alanya in Turkey, where she enjoyed a meal at Hisar restaurant on top of the castle.
While in a reel it shows her going on glammed-up nights out with her friends with a short video appearing to show her on a party bus with neon lights flashing blue, green, and red.
Simon Wilkes, head of Worcestershire Regulatory Services, said of the case: ‘Bromsgrove District Council will not tolerate breaches of notices and its planning officers will continue to work with their enforcement colleagues at WRS to ensure planning decisions are adhered to.’
Bromsgrove District Council’s head of planning Ruth Bamford added: ‘Bromsgrove District has a lot of green belt which is important to protect from harmful development.’
