It's hardly a secret that you need planning permission. As Ray points out, this is nothing new, there is plenty of information on-line and the local planning authority could have told him, for free, what was needed.

Its possible this guy was just incredibly naive. However it is far from unusual for people to carry on without permission in the hope that the planning authority won't want a fight. The issues are not just the visual appearance but the impact on other amenities, as well as not setting a precedent. If the Council had been minded to grant consent they could have done so retrospectively, so they presumably have good reasons for going for enforcement instead.

The article itself isn't playing the disability angle, although the photo may win him some sympathy. Any new development would have to comply with the Disability Act and be disability-friendly, so that description is unnecessary.