Golf club face £10k fine following prosecution over illegal mobile phone mast

Northenden Golf Club has been ordered to pay a significant fine for failing to comply with a planning enforcement notice against a mobile phone mast and diesel generator on the golf course. 

A temporary mobile phone mast and generator was first erected at Northenden Golf Course in March 2018 using emergency development rights.  

The mast and generator should have been removed by September 2019 when the emergency rights ended. A subsequent planning application to retain the mast at the site for a further 12months was refused by the Council.  

A planning enforcement notice was issued to the golf club by Manchester City Council in July 2020 that ordered the club to switch off the generator and remove the mast by 1 October 2021.  

Council officers observed the generator still in operation and the mast still in place nearly six months after the deadline passed. At this point, the Council began prosecution proceedings against the golf club for failing to comply with the planning enforcement notice.  

The equipment itself was owned and operated by a mobile telecommunications company, which was previously handed a large fine for failing to comply with the planning notice.  

The mast and generator were finally removed in October 2022, three years after the emergency period expired and one year after the enforcement notice should have been complied with. 

The golf club pleaded not guilty at a hearing at the Magistrates’ Court on 2 October 2023, and argued that they did not have physical control of the mast or generator and therefore were unable to comply with the enforcement notice.  

Although the judge agreed that the club did not have physical control of the mast and generator, they also had not done everything expected of them to ensure the notice was complied with.  

The judge found that the golf club, as landlord, did not instigate legal proceedings against the telecommunications company and therefore found them guilty of not complying with the enforcement notice.  

On Wednesday 28 February the golf club was handed a fine of £10,000 and ordered to pay £2,500 contribution to the Council’s costs.  

Cllr Gavin White, Manchester City Council’s executive member for housing and development, said: 

“Whilst it has taken some time for this case to be finally resolved, in total, two companies have been ordered to pay £50,000 in fines for the part they played in failing to comply with a planning enforcement notice. I hope that this sends a message that the Council takes planning regulations seriously and will take firm action when appropriate – particularly in cases where there is clear harm being caused to the wellbeing of local residents.”