Here’s an interesting remark from an inspector who was determining an appeal against an enforcement notice requiring the removal of a timber play structure from the garden of a house in Lincolnshire (DCS Number 400-027-704).
Monthly Archives: September 2020
Cut us some slack
Given the current global pandemic, an inspector found it appropriate to cut some slack for a local planning authority, refusing to award costs against it for failing to determine a change of use planning application within the requisite period (DCS Number 400-027-724).
Punishing
The quality of planning applications can range from commendable to criminal but there is really never any need for this:
“In response to the Council’s punitive refusal reasons…”
(DCS Number 400-027-567).
A duty of care
Readers might share our disquietude at the following paragraph, taken from an appeal decision relating to the refusal of planning permission for a 60-bedroom care home in Cheshire (DCS Number 400-027-262).
Travelling light
Planning permission has been granted at appeal (DCS Number 400-027-526) for the change of use of a first floor tattoo studio in Norwich to temporary visitor accommodation despite concerns about the small size of the property.
Must buy some stamps
A sculpture of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s head profile made from crystals and set within a glass panel measuring 5.6 metres tall by 3 metres wide has been refused a second temporary permission.
A brown study
We all know that a sitting room is a habitable room and that a bathroom is not a habitable room. But what about a study? According to one inspector, determining an appeal in north London (DCS Number 200-009-576), a study in a neighbouring property could not be assessed as a habitable room:
News from PlanningResource
- 'One of Birmingham's tallest buildings' approved despite three per cent affordable flats January 11, 2021Birmingham City Council has approved a 48-storey city centre development of 454 build-to-rent apartments, despite the provision of a less-than-policy-compliant 14 affordable flats and concerns about heritage impacts.
- WYG rebrands as Tetra Tech following takeover January 11, 2021One of the UK’s biggest planning consultancies has officially adopted the name of its American parent company following a takeover in 2019.
- Almost a third of English councils lack a five-year housing land supply, research finds January 11, 2021The number of English councils with a National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF)-compliant development plan has risen to 71 per cent, but almost a third of local authorities lack a five-year housing land supply, according to new research from consultancy Savills.
- Developer has to pay Herts council extra £0.5m due to 'flagrant' CIL regulations breach January 11, 2021A developer will have to pay an additional £500,000 towards local infrastructure after a planning inspector concluded that the firm had made a "flagrant breach" of community infrastructure levy (CIL) regulations by starting work on a site without first notifying the local authority.
- May local elections ‘likely to be delayed’ January 11, 2021Speculation over whether May's local and mayoral elections will be postponed in light of the coronavirus upsurge and news of the completion of London’s “largest ever office building” feature in today's newspaper roundup.
- Number of housing sites planned on London's green belt has trebled in four years, report claims January 8, 2021The number of housing sites allocated on London's green belt in local plans has trebled in the past four years, according to a study by a conservation pressure group, which claims that planning inspectors are unnecessarily "insisting" on green belt reviews.
- Inspector allows 440-home scheme on allocated site after Kent council's 'unreasonable' refusal January 8, 2021A planning inspector has granted permission for up to 440 homes on an allocated greenfield site in Kent and issued a partial costs award against the local authority, after concluding that there was "no demonstrable evidence" backing up one of the council's reasons for refusal on highways grounds.
- Inspector backs north Essex joint local plan following removal of 34,000-home garden communities January 8, 2021Three north Essex councils may have to begin the process of identifying adequate land to make up for the deletion of two garden communities totalling 34,000 homes from their joint local plan, after a planning inspector backed the adoption of the document without the two proposed settlements.
- Homebuilding sector 'benefits from housing market boom’ January 8, 2021News of the resilience of the housebuilding sector during the pandemic leads our roundup of today's newspapers.
- What the government's latest housing need changes mean for the areas subject to higher requirement levels January 7, 2021The vast majority of the 52 local authorities that will have to apply a new 35 per cent uplift to their housing need levels under the revised standard method will be subject to figures far in excess of their recent delivery levels. Meeting such an increased need will be a challenge say observers and risks […]