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05
Nov
FOI reveals why enforcement action is taking so long against unauthorised Harrogate car wash
Enforcement action against an unauthorised Harrogate car wash could take several months to resolve, the Stray Ferret can reveal.
Skipton Road Car Wash has been at the centre of enforcement action by North Yorkshire Council for repeatedly operating without planning permission.
Plans have been submitted, withdrawn, re-submitted, rejected, appealed and dismissed – none of which have deterred the car wash owners from trading.
The council ordered the car wash to cease trading in July after the Planning Inspectorate dismissed its appeal.
The local authority told the Stray Ferret on September 2 “enforcement is being taken via the service of an enforcement notice” after the car wash ignored the council’s demands.
But a freedom of information request submitted by the Stray Ferret has revealed the enforcement action only came into effect on Monday (November 3), despite being served six weeks ago.
In response to our FOI request, the council sent the Stray Ferret a copy of the enforcement notice served on the car wash, which is is dated September 25 – three weeks after the council told us enforcement action was being taken.
The FOI reveals the car wash was given 150 days to cease operations. It was granted 60 days to remove machinery and equipment even though a recent planning application, which seeks approval to operate at the site irrespective of the enforcement action, revealed there is just one hoover and two jet washers on site.
Below is a breakdown of the steps and the number of days permitted.
The instructions given to Skipton Road Car Wash.
It is unclear if the number of days allowed for compliance are consecutive or concurrent.
When the Stray Ferret asked North Yorkshire Council to clarify this, it declined to comment.
If the 150 days are consecutive, Skipton Road Car Wash would have around five months to cease all operations, starting from November 3.
The authority's local enforcement plan says:
Dealing with enforcement cases can be a lengthy and complex process. The different types of enforcement cases vary considerably in complexity as does the time taken for their resolution. Consequently, it is not possible to give a standard time for resolving enforcement cases.
The Stray Ferret also asked the council why the car wash was granted six weeks' notice before the enforcement action came into effect but it declined to answer any of our questions.
Skipton Road Car Wash operating on August 3, 2025.
Legal proceedings
Nic Harne, the council’s director for community development, in September pledged to take further action against the car wash should it fail to comply with enforcement action.
Mr Harne said this would “include court proceedings”.
As part of our FOI request, the Stray Ferret asked what, if any, legal action had been taken against the car wash.
The response said: “No legal action at present. Notice has been served.”
It also directed us to its local enforcement plan, which says:
Failure to comply with formal enforcement action can be a criminal offence and the council may take prosecution action in such cases. Although use of the criminal process is an important part of enforcement, prosecution action it is not taken lightly or for purely punitive reasons. Prosecutions must be in the public interest and there are evidential and public interest tests set down in the Code for Crown Prosecutors which must be satisfied prior to taking prosecution action.
The National Planning Policy Framework says effective enforcement action is "important to maintain public confidence in the planning system".
Our FOI response sheds some light on a saga that has been ongoing since December 2023, but also raises questions about the robustness of local authorities' powers to tackle planning breaches.
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