A millionaire property developer has been fined £20,000 after felling 28 clifftop trees to create room for an illegal luxury pool house.
Natural England granted businessman man Bill Buckler permission to fell the trees for 'conservation purposes' on the sloping cliff at the end of his garden in Canford Cliffs in Poole, Dorset in February 2021.
He told the public body this was intended to protect the cliff from erosion and improve the habitat for sand lizards, a rare and protected species in the UK.
However, neighbours suspected Mr Buckler wanted to improve the view from his property as the he soon started building a luxury garden pod and infinity pool on the newly-cleared cliff edge.
Mr Buckler claimed he had been in contact with the local council and Natural England and that both supported his plans – but outraged locals protested he should not be building on the Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).
In early 2022, Natural England were informed of reports of 'unauthorised excavation works' at the site.
After visiting in May and September of that year to investigate, they confirmed the building work was unauthorised and would have been objected to if Mr Bucker had followed proper procedures.
Despite this, further excavation work by Mr Buckler was carried on until February 2023.
He was fined £8,812 for infringements under the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981) in March 2025, and £11.187 under the Enforcement Costs Recovery Notice.
Claiming the amount was 'disproportionate and manifestly excessive,' Mr Buckler took Natural England to the High Court to challenge the penalty.
He also claimed he was 'open and co-operative' with Natural England throughout the process.
Now, judges have unanimously dismissed his appeal in a damning verdict, labelling it 'notably free of merit.'
Mr Buckler originally bought a 1960s bungalow in the affluent Canford Cliffs area of Poole in October 2019 for over £3.1million.
Since 2020, he has been carrying out a £10m development project to replace it with four luxury homes.
The Poole Bay Cliffs is an SSSI due to its important coastal habitat, particularly for sand lizards, and for its geological features.
Its layers of rock, sand and fossilised flora date back millenia when the Isle of Purbeck and Isle of Wight were one connected land mass.
Mr Buckler dug into the cliff to put in underground concrete pillars for the 60ft wide garden room, which has been designed with a viewing platform with a balcony on the roof.
Nick Squirrel, from Natural England, said geological features on the protected land have been 'permanently damaged' due to the work and cannot be restored.
He stated trying to undo the illegal works would cause cliff instability and put beach users below at risk.
Mr Squirrel said: 'Had the works, already carried out, been the subject of the legally required consultation process under the planning and conservation legislation, I have no doubt that both Natural England and the council would have raised strong objections.
'The effect of the unauthorised construction works carried out in the SSSI have destroyed a part of the geological features for which the SSSI is notified.
'It is apparent that these features are now lost and that the unauthorised piling works and construction activity is of a nature which may not be undone without raising greater risks to both the lower geological formations and the structural stability of the cliff face as well as visitors using the promenade and beach huts below.'
Mr Squirrel added: 'It's very heavily engineered for a garden room.
'Our concerns really relate to the situation on Bournemouth cliffs, there's a number of slippages going on at the moment. The policy is to keep development set back to prevent erosion and to protect the beach huts and people at the bottom.
'It can't be restored, it's permanently damaged so now we need to look at what, if any, recompense can be made to cover the loss of those features that have been destroyed.
'Pulling all the pillars and concrete out will create instability in the cliff. Leaving it as it is, we think is the best thing.'
Backing the conservation body, Judge Anthony Snelson said: 'We find nothing of substance in any of the individual points of appeal which we have examined...this is an appeal which is notably free of merit.'
It adds: 'In early 2022 [Natural England} was made aware of reports of unauthorised excavation works having been carried out at the site affecting geological features of the SSSI.
'Site visits followed, on May 9, 2022 and September 1, 2022.
'It was evident that large quantities of soil had been removed, apparently for the purposes of constructing an infinity pool.
'It seems that the work had been commenced in July 2021.
'In correspondence initiated on June 28, 2022 [Natural England] wrote to [Mr Buckler] asking him to stop the works pending any decision on further action.
'[Mr Buckler] objected to doing so but then relented.
'The apparent change of heart may have been prompted by warnings from [Natural England] and the local planning authority that any resumption would be met with Stop Notices.
'The works were, however, resumed in fairly short order (without permission from the respondent or the local planning authority) and continued until the local planning authority carried out a site visit and gave an immediate instruction to stop on or about March 28, 2023.
'At that visit it was evident that further excavation had been done (in addition to the 2021-2022 activity), at least some within the boundary of the SSSI.'
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