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A 68-year-old East Sussex man has been fined £45,000 and ordered to pay costs of £90,000 after being found guilty of damaging a protected conservation site close to where the Saxons clashed with the Normans in the Battle of Hastings.

Natural England brought the prosecution against Mr Sheikh Abid Gulzar of Mansion Lions Hotel, Grand Parade, Eastbourne, following the discovery of a series of damaging activities carried out on his land within the Pevensey Levels Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) none of which had been given consent. Prior to resorting to legal action, Natural England had attempted to meet with Mr Gulzar on several occasions to discuss the management of the site, but these meeting requests were refused.

At a hearing at Hastings Magistrates Court on 1 November 2012, Mr Gulzar pleaded guilty to three offences of carrying out operations without Natural England’s consent, including planting of non-native trees, erecting fencing, and erecting temporary structures. Since the hearing, he has also pleaded guilty to the remaining charges of constructing a track and a bridge.

Janette Ward, Natural England’s Regulation Director, said: “Pevensey Levels is a fragile, historic area, which needs to be managed sympathetically to safeguard the rare species that survive there. We attempted to negotiate with Mr Gulzar many times before we brought this prosecution, but he declined to engage in any way leaving us no option but to take legal action to help protect the site. We work with many landowners on SSSIs across the country, and with careful management it is possible for a wide range of activities to be carried out with our consent. We trust that Mr Gulzar will now feel more able to work with us and manage this special site more appropriately.”

Natural England, as the government’s environment adviser, is responsible for the protection of SSSIs and works with landowners and managers to help achieve this. It has regulatory powers to prevent damaging operations from taking place on SSSIs and where damage does occur it can take appropriate enforcement action, including prosecuting offenders.

Notes to editors:

Mr Gulzar was fined £45,000, ordered to pay costs of £90,000 and a victim surcharge of £15. A restoration order was served.

SSSIs

There are 4,119 Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) across England, ranging from a 50 sq m in a barn in Gloucestershire (home to lesser horseshoe bats) to huge areas such as 37,000 hectares of the Humber estuary (where a colony of grey seals and 50,000 golden plovers are found). In total they cover more than 1m hectares (2.5m acres) or 8 per cent of England. The unique and varied habitats of SSSIs have developed over hundreds of years through management practices such as grazing and forestry, and need active management to maintain their conservation interest. Natural England works with more than 26,000 separate owners and land managers who are instrumental to conserving these important sites.

Pevensey Levels SSSI is a large area of low-lying grazing meadow, intersected by a complex system of ditches which support internationally important plants and invertebrates. It is also nationally important for its number of over-wintering lapwings, which has regularly exceeded 1% of the total British population over recent years. Further details about Pevensey Levels can be found in the citation: http://www.sssi.naturalengland.org.uk/citation/citation_photo/1000914.pdf

SSSIs are notified and given protection under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 as substituted by Schedule 9 to the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 and amendments made by the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006. Amongst other legal obligations the legislation places requirements on owners and occupiers of land within SSSIs, public bodies and other persons. Proceedings for this case were brought under section 28P (1) of the 1981 Act. Natural England is legally responsible for protecting SSSIs and can ultimately bring prosecutions where illegal activities are taking place. This can result in fines of up to £20,000 at a magistrate’s courts and unlimited amounts at crown court.

Browne Jacobson, 44 Castle Gate, Nottingham, NG1 7BJ acted on Natural England’s behalf in this case.

For further information, please contact Lyndon Marquis, lyndon.marquis@naturalengland.org.uk, 0300 060 4236