Landowner who spent 'hundreds of thousands' restoring dead Norfolk broad facing prosecution for leaving it 'suburbanised'

When retired oil executive David Pooley decided to pour hundreds of thousands of pounds into restoring a dead Norfolk broad, he thought the local authority would be delighted with his efforts.

The retired 64-year-old spent three years working with a team of people working on the beauty spot for the benefit of this local community.

But now the Broads Authority are threatening to prosecute him because he restored Sotshole Broad in Ranworth, Norfolk, without planning permission and left the site 'suburbanised'.

Beauty spot: David Pooley, pictured with parish council chairman Peter Crook (left), has been told he should not have installed this quay heading without permission

Dredged: This 2005 picture shows the small patch of water at Sotshole Broad before the dredging work was carried out.  Now the water stretches as far as the red line after Mr Pooley invested hundreds of thousands. There is a small island in the middle which is used by birds

The father-of-two said he did not know he needed approval to put down a quay heading and boardwalk on the 60-acre site.

But he insists the work was needed to restore the site to its former glory - and given the choice he would rather have not spent so much money on it.

Mr Pooley bought the site near his home in 2005 when he retired from working in the oil industry.

Although the site is privately owned, he happily lets friends and villagers walk their dogs on the land and opens the doors to everyone for three weeks a year.

  More... Lord Lambton, his £12m legacy and a family torn apart: Three sisters battle brother over sex peer's estate

He wants to open the beauty spot up for everyone to use but has been put off because he would have to jump through bureaucratic hoops and build toilets, get insurance and have disabled access.

Mr Pooley, of South Walsham, Norfolk, insists the wooden quay heading is only there to hold up the bank while the paths and boardwalk are to give him vital access to manage the woodland.

He said that the rundown site was practically lifeless four years ago but is now teeming with otters, fish and birds.

The benefactor, who lets the public in on open days as well as for the bluebell walk, has won unanimous backing from South Walsham Parish Council. Dispute: The benefactor, left, was also told this decking should not have been put down through the woodland. Mr Pooley insists it was needed for access as the ground beneath is boggy and unsafe to walk through

Beauty spot: Work had not been carried out on the 60 acre site for the last 50 years when Mr Pooley decided to pour his own money into the project

Row: Mr Pooley said wildlife had practically deserted the site before he carried out restoration work

Council chairman Peter Crook said: 'Local residents have been interested to see the scheme progress and everyone is astounded that the Broads Authority has threatened legal action.'

Mr Pooley has lived in the area for 26 years, although he spent much of his career in Africa and the Middle East, and wanted to give something back to his community.

He said: 'I am told I should have had planning permission but I didn't know that. There is no reason I should have known.

'I was in conversation with the Broads Authority about doing the work and they didn't mention it. They told me it was a different department responsible - I thought it was a scene straight out of Yes Minister.

'When I started, the whole site was totally inaccessible. The water was only 6ins deep and the broad was totally dead.There were no fish or anything.

Leaflet: A picture of the lake in a flyer David Pooley, 64, has given out to visitors because of his on-going battle with the authority

Beauty spot: The Sotshole Broad 60-acre site in Ranworth, Norfolk, where Mr Pooley has spent hundreds of thousands on restoration worj

Labour of love: Mr Pooley, 64, said he would open the site up to the public if it was not for the bureaucratic hoops he had to leap through

'We have taken three years to dig it out to a depth of 3ft to 4ft. It is now teeming with fish, including pike, and there are otters and kingfishers about.

'Swans have nested for the past three years and my neighbour Charles Cator has mentioned birds that I have never even heard of.'

He said that restoring the site was 'something he wanted to do' in his retirement, and he was told no work had been carried out for the last 40 or 50 years.

The work has cost him 'several hundred thousand' to do, although he refused to be drawn on the exact total.

Mr Pooley bought the site from Fairhaven Garden in 2005 after he left his job as part-owner of an engineering company in the Middle East.

Over a three-year period, Sotshole Broad was magnificently restored to its dimensions shown on an old Victorian map from 1886.

Beauty spot: Mr Pooley, a former oil executive, has lived in the area for the last 26 years and wanted to put something back into the community

Mr Pooley said Broads Authority officers had approached him in 2008. And after inspecting the broad in a rowing boat, and finding it devoid of life apart from lilies and reeds, they suggested they could work with him to restore it with the help of government funding.

But the organisation told him a year later that the cash was being used on other larger projects.

A report by the Broads Authority planning committee said they would seek authority to 'prosecute the owner in the event that the enforcement notice (to remove the quay heading and boardwalk) is not complied with.

Andrea Long, director of planning and strategy at the Broads Authority, said: 'Sotshole Broad is in an isolated, remote and unspoilt location and we feel that the additional hard edged quay heading and boardwalks are inappropriate for the area.

'The Broads Authority always tries to resolve these matters through negotiation rather than taking formal action.'

She said they were happy the broad had been dredged and were not asking Mr Pooley to fill it back in.

But he has now been advised to apply for retrospective planning permission concerning the rest of the work he has done on the site.