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).
News from PlanningResource
- Around one in ten young people have knowingly engaged in local plan consultations, survey finds August 18, 2020Research shows that 11 per cent of young adults have knowingly engaged in local plan consultations to guide new development in their areas, according to a new study.
- Built heritage groups 'likely to oppose' nine-storey Kings Cross pharma hub August 18, 2020A brewing dispute over a planned nine-storey building beside one the country's best-known railway stations heads today's newspaper roundup.
- West London council accepts loss of listed building to approve mixed-use college redevelopment August 18, 2020Councillors in the London Borough of Brent have approved plans for the redevelopment of an adult education centre, after finding the benefits of the proposed development outweighed the ‘highly regrettable’ loss of a locally listed building.
- Consultancy wins planning work to drive council regeneration plans August 18, 2020Property consultancy Lambert Smith Hampton (LSH) has been appointed by Thurrock Council in Essex to help deliver a £6 billion regeneration and housing development programme.
- City council green-lights central Oxford’s ‘first new college of the 21st century’ August 17, 2020Permission has been granted for three existing university buildings to be converted to form Oxford’s 39th college within the city’s central conservation area.
- How the planning white paper would change ... planning enforcement August 17, 2020A promise to "review and strengthen" council's enforcement powers and sanctions if new development does not meet the required design and environmental standards, including consideration of higher fines, features in the government's new planning white paper.
- 'Affordability row over plans for 700-home brownfield development' August 17, 2020A dispute over plans for 700 homes on a former gasworks site in Brighton leads our round-up of today's newspapers and news websites.
- Five authorities to pilot new spatial nature recovery strategies August 17, 2020Five local authorities are to trial the creation of new "local nature recovery strategies" (LNRS) which are intended to "support better spatial planning for nature", the government has announced.
- Thurrock Council secures injunction to block illegal development on 40-hectare green belt site August 17, 2020An Essex local authority has secured an interim High Court injunction to prevent unauthorised works on a 40-hectare green belt site - the latest in a series of court interventions by the council to restrict illegal works taking place at the location.
- High Court grants council permission to challenge inspector's green belt traveller site permission August 14, 2020The High Court has allowed a council to pursue a legal challenge to a planning inspector's decision to block its attempts to shut down a traveller encampment in the Merseyside green belt.