The neighbours might not have thought much of this one (DCS Number 400-022-191) but it gives us an idea how far built development can vary from the approved plans before being deemed unauthorised.
Posts By: dcplatest
Still no
In It ain’t necessarily so we reported an appeal case in which a certificate of lawfulness was issued for a mobile home within a residential curtilage despite the council’s concern that it could be used as a separate unit of accommodation. What if a mobile home were to be built and assembled on site? Surely then it would need planning permission? Still no.
It ain’t necessarily so
Curtilage caravans which provide all the requirements for independent occupation must require planning permission, right? Not necessarily. Proving the case, an inspector has issued a certificate of lawfulness for the siting of a three-bedroom mobile home within the garden of a house in Essex (DCS Number 400-021-680).
Skid lids and lattes
A group of bikers might not be the first image that comes to mind when thinking of the British countryside, but an inspector has allowed a motorcycle café in rural Lincolnshire, pointing out that motorcycling is an activity which can contribute to the rural economy (DCS Number 400-021-913).
Shape shifting
In the green belt openness and visual amenity used to be discrete things but it looks like they have merged into one another. For the record, an inspector dealing with an appeal against the refusal of permission for a single dwelling in the green belt in Hertfordshire has set out the relevant court cases (DCS Number 200-008-480).
High on the hog
They live high on the hog in Essex. Because there, a restaurant is reckoned to be a community facility.
In this case (DCS Number 400-022-010) the change of use of a restaurant to two residential units was rejected at appeal because it “…would have a harmful impact on the ability of the community to meet its day to day needs.”
Substantially completed
Section 171B(1) of the 1990 Act sets out that where there has been a breach of planning control consisting of the carrying out without planning permission of building operations, no enforcement action may be taken after the end of the period of four years beginning with the date on which the operations were substantially completed.
Barn conversion update
A barn conversion near Leeds has been allowed under Class Q, Part 3, Schedule 2 to the GPDO after a council relied on out-of-date text from Planning Practice Guidance (DCS Number 400-021-808).
Making assumptions
Assume: To make an ass out of u and me.
The DCP Blog was a little perturbed to find the following in a recent appeal decision relating to the refusal of planning permission for five houses in Buckinghamshire (DCS Number 400-021-979).
Electric avenue
Although the inspector in this case (DCS Number 400-021-871) was unconvinced, we thought that the idea of promoting the use of electric cars to address concerns about vehicle noise was rather innovative.
News from PlanningResource
- ‘We need to make the planning profession sexy again’, says MP August 12, 2022An MP has warned Parliament that the “brain drain” in the planning sector will impede the government's levelling up mission and called for the profession to be made “sexy again” to make it more attractive to new entrants.
- 114-hectare solar farm given the go-ahead on unallocated countryside site August 12, 2022An Essex council has given full permission to plans for a solar farm covering 114 hectares of agricultural land in unallocated countryside, after planning officers advised that the scheme's climate, economic and biodiversity benefits outweighed its negative impacts.
- ‘UK housing demand still outpacing supply’ August 12, 2022A report on the national supply of housing failing to keep up with demand, leading to claimed consequences including higher property prices and problems for potential first-time buyers, leads today’s media round-up
- Ten key things that happened in the past week August 11, 2022Ten of the biggest news stories from the past week, including consultancy WSP buying another large UK planning outfit and a secretary of state letter telling inspectors not to find local plans unsound this summer.
- The fall-out from the scrapping of one of England’s last strategic plans August 11, 2022Work on one of England’s few remaining strategic plans has halted after councils in Oxfordshire failed to agree on long-term housing targets. Observers say the move indicates both central government’s and local authorities’ lack of interest in strategic planning, and worry that local plans in the county may now be delayed.
- Local Plan Watch: Council adopts plan proposing 2,000 homes on green belt despite falling housing need August 11, 2022A local plan proposing to build more than 2,000 homes on green belt land has been adopted after planning inspectors ruled that the local authority could set a housing target higher than that produced by the government’s standard method.
- 'Fresh government delay to West Cumbrian coal mine decision’ August 11, 2022A report on a delay to the decision on “the first deep coal mine in the UK for more than 30 years” leads our round-up of today’s news
- Council pushes local plan adoption date back by two years August 11, 2022A council has approved pushing back the expected adoption date of its emerging local plan to 2024 - two years later than originally planned and after a key government deadline - to allow it to carry out a “meaningful engagement and consultation”.
- Neighbourhood Watch: Developer's court challenge fails to block Essex plan’s adoption August 11, 2022An Essex local authority has adopted a neighbourhood plan after successfully defending a developer’s High Court bid to block the move.
- Why an electricity connection logjam has prompted housing delivery fears among London councils and developers August 10, 2022A hold-up to housing developments in west London due to electricity capacity problems could "affect the delivery of thousands of much-needed homes", according to the mayor, and has prompted fears among housebuilders. Councils say they are also worried about hitting their housing delivery and land supply targets.