A property developer who misled local residents about his development intentions has been granted planning permission for a barn conversion with a planning inspector pointing out that “private agreements are not a planning matter.”
Developer Sheldon Seal has found himself in conflict with local residents and the local council over a barn development he has been working on in Berkshire.
According to a High Court ruling handed down today, in 2017 Seal was granted planning permission to convert a range of barns, sheds and stables at White Horse Farm, Wokingham, into a building for residential use.
In 2018, having been advised that the existing buildings were in poor condition, Seal was given permission to demolish and rebuild on the condition that one specific barn, considered an eyesore by local residents, be demolished.
Even so, when the development was built the barn was not demolished. And, during a later planning application, Seal gave an “undertaking” to the council and local residents that he did plan to demolish the barn, the judgment said.
However, in 2019 he sought planning permission to retain and develop the barn in question. Local residents complained, and the council refused the application and issued Seal with an enforcement notice ordering him to demolish the barn.
According to the ruling, Seal appealed to a planning inspector, who recommended he be given planning permission.
“I note that reference has been made to an agreement between interested parties and the appellant to ensure the existing building which is the subject of this appeal is demolished,” the planning inspector said in the ruling.
“Such private agreements are not a planning matter, and do not fall within the scope of this appeal. Each application and appeal must be determined on its own planning merits, which is what I have done in this case.”
Local residents appealed to the High Court, and in a ruling handed down today Mrs Justice Lang backed the inspector and said he did not make a mistake in law.
She said the it was correct that “Mr Seal’s conduct was not a basis on which the inspector could refuse the appeal.”
She declined to say whether the failure to demolish the barn made the first development unlawful, saying that is a matter for the council to determine.
Patrick Greenwood v (1) Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (2) Wokingham Borough Council (3) Sheldon Seal
Planning Court (Lang J) 8 November 2021
