A man embroiled in a decade-long legal battle with council officials over a building converted into a home without planning permission has vowed to keep fighting.
Liam Snowden, 34, has spoken out over his legal battle with North Yorkshire Council over his property, East Field Barn, in Deighton, near Northallerton.
The agricultural engineer bought the building and several surrounding fields in 2016.
Records show that permission had previously been granted to a local authority planning officer, who lived in a nearby farmhouse, for the building to be converted into a home under permitted development rules.
Mr Snowden said he believed this meant he did not need further permission and so converted the premises into a small home.
He was then told by Hambleton District Council officers that he would need to apply for new planning permission for the conversion.
He duly submitted an application however, this was rejected, as was a further application and appeals to the Planning Inspectorate.
In January, Mr Snowden was prosecuted at York Crown Court for failing to comply with an enforcement order issued by the district council in 2020.
At his sentencing in February, Mr Snowden, who represented himself throughout the court process, was fined £1,000, ordered to pay costs of £25,029 and a court surcharge of £100 within three months or face 30 days in prison.
But the landowner claims he has not been fairly treated by Hambleton District Council or, subsequently, by North Yorkshire Council, which took over the case in 2023.
He said: “I feel like I’ve been harassed and persecuted by the council.
“I also feel like I have been set up and misled. There’s a saying that you can’t beat the system, well this is a perfect example.”
The landowner, who is a prize-winning sheep breeder, said he believes there has been a conflict of interest due to the planning officer’s previous personal involvement in the property.
“It was signed off as a dwelling when he applied, but then I bought it and I was refused permission.
“There’s a huge conflict of interest, but nobody seems to care.”
Mr Snowden, who says he has spent more than £30,000 on legal fees over the years, points out that despite the council taking enforcement action against him, they have demanded he pays council tax on the property — and have collected his bins every week.
He added: “Over the years, I’ve had six or seven enforcement officers and seven planning officers dealing with it.
“You deal with one officer and then they’d disappear and you have to go through it again with a different one.”
Mr Snowden, who says his mental health has suffered due to the stress of the case, said he would pay the fine, but was planning further steps to secure planning permission.
In response to the criticism, North Yorkshire Council’s head of development management, Martin Grainger, said: “Mr Snowden was given full opportunity to present his case during the court proceedings that followed the refusal of planning permission and subsequent enforcement action.
“He was found guilty. If the fine is not paid, then the court has made clear he will face a 30-day prison sentence.
“We are satisfied that throughout this case our officers acted professionally and with integrity.
“To be clear, where planning laws are breached, we will not hesitate to use the powers available to us to ensure development is safe, fair, and in the public interest.”
Mr Snowden has also criticised the court process, claiming there were irregularities during the hearing that meant the prosecution should have failed.
He says the council twice ran out of time for the prosecution but were allowed to continue, while he claims his evidence was also changed by the judge.
He has submitted several complaints to the courts and is looking at the possibility of a high court appeal.
He has also submitted files to the Crown Prosecution Service and the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office.
“I’m not going to give in. I’m old-fashioned and I’m British, and I’m going to keep going until I can live here,” he added.
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