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
- ‘Somerset greenfields under threat after Planning Inspectorate decision on 200 new homes’ May 24, 2022A report that the Planning Inspectorate has given the go-ahead for a 200-home greenfield development in Somerset leads today’s news roundup.
- Secretary of state decision on nuclear power station delayed by six-and-a-half weeks May 24, 2022The secretary of state’s final decision on the proposed new Sizewell C nuclear power station has been delayed until July to consider “further information” from the developer and other parties following a post-examination consultation, a minister has announced.
- Government allocates £15m to councils to help deliver 42 garden communities May 24, 2022The government has announced £15 million of grant funding for local authorities to support the delivery of 42 garden community projects across England.
- Property firm takes over Oxford-based planning consultancy May 24, 2022A property consultancy has taken over an Oxford-based planning firm and announced that the smaller outfit's former director will become their new deputy head of planning.
- Southampton airport runway extension survives High Court challenge from campaign group May 24, 2022The High Court has upheld the planning permission granted for a controversial runway extension at Southampton International Airport, after a judge dismissed a campaign group's argument that the local authority should have waited for the secretary of state to decide whether or not to call in the plans before issuing its final consent.
- Plans for 70,000sqm 'once in a generation' hospital complex approved May 23, 2022Plans for a new 70,000 square metre hospital complex have been approved after a planning inspector found that, despite causing harm to a protected landscape site, the "once in a generation development" offered the “very best proposal in planning terms when considered in the round”.
- The 67 councils that failed to grant permission for any self build plots in 2020/21 - and those that granted the most May 23, 2022One in five English local authorities failed to grant permission for any self-build or custom-build housing in the 12 months to October 2021, recently published government figures show.
- Levelling up bill includes new powers to make 'non-substantial' changes to planning consents May 23, 2022Measures in the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill will expressly allow councils to amend planning consents “in limited circumstances” without the need for a new planning application to be submitted.
- Inspector allows 28-storey Manchester student accommodation block May 23, 2022A planning inspector has allowed an appeal for a 28-storey student accommodation block in central Manchester, dismissing the city council's grounds for refusal on issues including whether there is a need for such developments and the scheme's location and design.
- ‘More than 300 homes permitted on Rotherham farmland’ May 23, 2022A report that more than 300 homes have been permitted on agricultural land near Rotherham leads today’s news roundup.