A builder has been ordered to fork out thousands of pounds after ignoring strict guidelines which prevent construction work taking place on weekends .
Duclei Ferreira worked noisily on two Saturdays and a Bank Holiday Monday, breaching Kensington and Chelsea Council’s strict rules, which were introduced to protect residents living near building sites.
Appearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday (January 18), he pleaded guilty on behalf of himself and his company Duclei Construction to three charges of breaching a notice served under section 60 of the Control of Pollution Act 1974.
Ferreira was fined a total of £900 for breaching the notice and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £170.
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His company, Duclei Contractors Ltd of Matrix Road Kilburn, was fined a total of £3,000, plus a further £170 surcharge.
In addition, He was also ordered to pay costs of £1,257.75.
The breach occurred while work was being carried out at on a site in Campden Hill Gardens, Holland Park, which was undergoing conversion and refurbishment.
In court, the defendant apologised through an interpreter for the offences and in mitigation, claimed that problems arose because he had employed someone who had let him down.
The court heard that the Royal borough’s noise and nuisance officers acted after receiving complaints from residents and had first tried to resolve the issue with advice and warnings before serving the section 60 notice .
However noisy building works were again witnessed on a bank holiday in May and on Saturdays in May and July.
Environmental health chief at the council, Cllr Tim Ahern, said: “We warned and we advised, but the out of hours working continued so Mr Ferreira only has himself to blame for becoming the first to be prosecuted under our new regime.
“I hope the message now goes out to contractors that ignoring our Code of Construction Practice will have consequences.”
Introduced in April 2016, The Code of Construction Practice means that a tough construction noise regime now operates in Kensington and Chelsea .
The generally permitted hours for noisy works no longer includes any time on a Saturday.
And as before, work is not allowed on Sundays. The code also includes a further set of restricted hours for high-impact activities such as demolition and concrete breaking.
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