Exmouth Marina Ltd has succeeded in its High Court attempt to retain a controversial ship racking system.
Sullivan J has ruled that the planning inspector had been wrong to back an enforcement notice requiring the removal of the racking system, which is 1.5m higher than the system for which planning consent was originally granted.
Allowing Exmouth’s appeal, the judge said that the planning inspector had been wrong to treat as his “principle concern” the racking system’s effect upon the surrounding area. He said that the original planning permission did not preclude boats from being stored on top of the racking.
Quashing the inspector’s decision, and ordering a rethink he said: “The inspector was plainly very concerned indeed about the impact of the racking as constructed, and particularly concerned about the impact upon the surrounding houses of storing boats on the top of the racking.
“The fact remains that there is nothing in the 2001 planning permission to prohibit the storage of boats on top of the permitted structure. If the council wished to control storage of boats on the top of the racks, they could have imposed an appropriate condition. They failed to do so.
“However severe the consequences may be for the amenity of surrounding properties, that does not justify adopting a strained interpretation of the 2001 planning permission and, in effect, imposing a limitation that is not to be found within the terms of that permission.”
The judge said that Exmouth had not questioned the need to reduce the height of the structure to lessen the effect upon local amenity. He also held that there had been “sufficient information” before the inspector to enable him to reach the conclusion that this could be achieved through alteration rather than removal.
Exmouth Marina v First Secretary of State Queen’s Bench Division (Sullivan J) 4 June 2003.
References: PLS News 4/6/03
