A large shed used by the Ross-on-Wye Steam Engine Society to store one of the last remaining steam cranes in existence has been saved from destruction by the High Court.
The shed stands in the middle of agricultural land in the Malvern countryside, which is also used for the annual Welland Steam & County Rally, an event well-known to steam enthusiasts.
The steam crane was built by British Rail in the 1950s, and bought by the society in 2004, which moved it to the site. The society restored it and, in July 2018, built a shed over it to protect it from the elements.
However, the society didn’t have planning permission for the shed, which resembles a large agricultural building. And, in July 2019, the council refused retrospective planning permission, saying that the building’s “height, massing and prominence… results in a significantly harmful encroachment into the open countryside”.
In August of that year, the council issued an enforcement notice giving the society three months to tear down the shed. The society appealed against the order, which led to an appeal to a planning inspector.
The planning inspector visited the site in February last year and, in March, recommended that the building should be allowed to stand.
In his report, he noted that “the building has a form and appearance not dissimilar to that of a modern farm structure”.
He said that it “has quite modest proportions when compared with those of many farming structures”. He also found that, because of attraction created by the crane, the “erection of the building has assisted, albeit in a modest degree, in sustaining the tourism and leisure benefit afforded by the rally to the surrounding area”.
The council appealed to the High Court, but in a ruling handed down today, High Court judge Mrs Justice Steyn backed the property inspector.
She rejected arguments from the council that the inspector had misinterpreted the law, made an irrational decision, and that the crane could be stored elsewhere.
“The inspector is a specialist tribunal,” she said in the ruling.
“He was entitled to reach a decision on the evidence presented to him, applying his planning judgment and common sense. The evidence was that the steam crane had been in the open for ‘over 60 years’. It had been saved from decomposition in a scrap yard by the enthusiasm of members of the society who had brought it to the site in 2004.
“The steam crane had not left the section of track on which it was originally placed when brought to the site due to the ‘significant challenges’ in moving it. The decision was taken to construct a shelter to protect the steam crane from further decay because ‘they were unable to house the crane. In my judgment, the council has not come close to establishing that the inspector’s assessment was irrational.”
“The appeal is dismissed on all grounds.”
Malvern Hills District Council v Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government and Ross-on-Wye Steam Engine Society Limited
Planning Court, Birmingham (Mrs Justice Steyn DBE) 27 January 2021
Mr Timothy Jones (instructed by Malvern Hills District Council) for the claimant
Mr Charles Streeten (instructed by Government Legal Department) for the first defendant
The second defendant did not appear and was not represented
