A business operating from a workshop at Westhorpe Farm, Little Marlow, will be forced to close following an Appeal Court ruling yesterday. The court upheld injunctions granted to Buckinghamshire County Council in respect of breaches of planning control on the land.
The council issued six enforcement notices aimed at preventing, among other things, the storing and depositing of soil and other waste materials above approved ground levels on the site. The notices also sought the removal from the land of buildings, huts and other structures, including a weighbridge and storage bays, and all associated plant and equipment.
North West Estates plc, which bought the land in 1999 subject to the enforcement notices, challenged their validity on the basis that they did not clearly state what steps the company had to take in order to comply with them. However, the High Court subsequently held that all the notices were valid. Granting the injunctions sought by the council, Jacob J said that there was “no counterweight tipping the balance against enforcement by way of injunction”.
North West Estates appealed against that decision, claiming that Jacob J had erred in a number of respects in his decision. The company claimed that he had failed to appreciate that an injunction requiring the removal of its workshop would close the business.
However, dismissing the appeal, Ward, Laws and Jonathan Parker LJJ ruled that the judge had not failed to appreciate that the consequence of granting the injunction would be to close down North West Estates’ business.
Ward LJ said: “That may be unfortunate. But it is the consequence of it acquiring the property knowing that there was an enforcement notice in force that required the workshop to be removed. The appellant cannot complain.”
Buckinghamshire County Council v North West Estates plc and others Court of Appeal (Ward, Laws and Jonathan Parker LLJ) 22 May 2003.
Keith Lindblom QC and David Park (instructed by Lawrence Graham) appeared for the appellant; Benedict Sefi and Stephen Morgan (instructed by Sharpe Pritchard, as agent for the solicitor to Buckinghamshire County Council) appeared for the respondents.
References: PLS News 23/5/03
