Making sense of the various permitted development rights for change of use under Part 3, Schedule 2 of the GPDO is a long way from easy. In particular, many have drawn the conclusion that a local planning authority which fails to determine a prior approval application within the requisite period has granted permission by default. Not so, as we highlighted in No worries.
Monthly Archives: July 2019
One giant leap
As we celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the moon landing it appears that planning has made one giant leap backwards. Get this: in Hertfordshire an appeal has been allowed and approval granted for change of use from light industrial to windowless flats under the provisions of Schedule 2, Part 3, Class PA of the GPDO (DCS Number 400-022-545).
The hands of time
If William Morris were still here he might be interested to know that, whilst many of his ideas were considered revolutionary in his lifetime, some have since been absorbed into mainstream planning policy. In particular, he did not share his fellow Victorians’ enthusiasm for turning back the hands of time in relation to the preservation of ancient buildings, and an appeal decision against the refusal of listed building consent for internal alterations to a thatched cottage in Wiltshire (DCS Number 400-022-320) is in line with his philosophy.
Celebrity gossip
Readers who move in certain circles might already be aware that, after his problems with a proposed private chapel on his Suffolk estate, Ed Sheeran does at least now have his wildlife pond sorted out.
Truncated
An inspector has authorised shorter visibility splays than deemed necessary by the council at the access to six dwellings in Suffolk, finding no particular justification for insisting on visibility splays suitable for a trunk road (DCS Number 400-022-073).