A DEVELOPER has pleaded guilty to failing to meet planning conditions at a housing estate in Yate – and residents say the punishment was not severe enough.

Representatives of Taylor Wimpey were hauled before Northavon Magistrates' Court on Friday for failing to plant trees and shrubs at the 228-home Elswick Park development in Kennedy Way.

South Gloucestershire Council (SGC) had pursued the developer for the breach of the planning conditions agreed when councillors approved the Elswick Park scheme in September 2010.

Taylor Wimpey received a two-year conditional discharge and was ordered to pay the council’s costs of £1,062 and a criminal court charge of £150 – but some say this is not enough.

Resident Iain Garett was the one who first notified SGC that Taylor Wimpey had failed to plant the trees and shrubs as promised.

He told the Gazette he was "disappointed" that Taylor Wimpey had avoided a fine and believed the developer had flouted the planning conditions because it didn't believe the council would prosecute.

Yate Town councillor, Chris Willmore, called the punishment given to Taylor Wimpey "a joke".

“It is rare enough for councils to get as far as going to court, so to be fobbed off so easily is a joke," he said. "A conditional discharge effectively says to developers 'don’t bother with what you promise, the courts won’t make you keep your promise'.”

The developer has also been criticised for not building a community centre which it allegedly promised to construct as part of the estate.

Resident Zoe Ford, 37, said: “The community feel that Taylor Wimpey have shown complete disregard and contempt for promises made to residents from the upkeep of landscaping within the development to the building of the community project.”

A SGC spokesman said: “We were disappointed that we had to resort to legal action against Taylor Wimpey to enforce the landscaping condition.

“However, this demonstrates our commitment to ensure planning conditions are met - this is the 13th successful prosecution in the last 12 months by the council’s planning enforcement team, which sends a very clear message to developers who flout planning laws.”

The SGC planning enforcement team contacted Taylor Wimpey in March with a notice to implement planting and landscaping works within a time scale of 28 days, with a warning that if they did not comply they would be prosecuted for non-compliance.             

A Taylor Wimpey spokesman said: “We take full responsibility for not replacing failed trees and shrubs at the development more promptly and we are working hard to address the issue for the benefit of our customers at the development.

“A replacement planting programme is already under way and we would like to apologise to our customers for allowing the appearance of the landscaped areas to fall below the high standards which they rightly expect.”