ROGUE car park operator Karl in Muckamore has been fined £25,000 and ordered to pay £4,000 in costs for failing to comply with an enforcement order - believed to be one of the biggest penalties ever imposed in Northern Ireland for such an offence.
It follows a contested hearing at Antrim Magistrates Court in which Karl was found by the judge to have illegally used part of its land in the ongoing provision of car park service.
Since 2001 Karl has been operating on a 1,200-car site at the Old Ballyrobin Road, just five minutes from Belfast International Airport, where it charges significantly less than the official airport car park.
It has been served with a number of official closure orders dating back nearly a decade, but has always continued to operate.
A spokesman for the company told the Irish News last night: "For a limited period last year we were using part of our land in the ongoing provision of our car park service in a way which we understood at the time to be within the law.
"Unfortunately no one from the enforcement side of Antrim & Newtownabbey Council informed of us that we were breaching regulations until after they had commenced legal action. We stopped using the land in question and we accept the outcome of the legal proceedings."
The company added: "But we are in the final stage of submitting a new planning application which, if passed will end the uncertainty and instability faced by us as a firm and our loyal customers.
"We undertook a broad consultation process during which almost 7,000 customers expressed their support for Karl Airport Parking in very strong terms.
"We believe there is a clear need for the service we offer and will demonstrate this in a new planning application which we hope the council will support and therefore allow a local family-owned firm, providing investment and employment and a service which the public support, to continue to trade.”
Belfast International Airport - which for years has tried to face down number of illegal operators who use fields or back yards as car parking areas - said the hefty fine on Karl was "a step in the right direction".
The airport's commercial operations director Brian Carlin said: “If this is the start of more robust action against unlawful car parks operating within the vicinity of the airport, then that is to be welcomed.
"For too long, they have been allowed to get away with flouting planning laws and cynically exploiting the abject failure of relevant authorities to enforce the law.
"We must comply with planning and all other legal requirements. We are competitively priced and operate to the highest business standards. We pay appropriate rates on our commercial operation and are at a loss to understand why it has taken this length of time to address this glaring disregard for the law.”
