Applicant owning land with planning permission for rugby and cricket pitches – Land used for tipping – Enforcement notice served for breach of planning control – Inspector refusing appeal against notice – Applicant seeking judicial review of inspector’s decision – Whether inspector wrong to conclude tipping not permitted under existing planning permission – Whether inspector wrong to refuse application for planning permission – Application refused
The applicant was the owner of land at Beggars Brook, North Petherton, Somerset (the site). The site had planning permission dated January 31 1974 and further planning permission dated September 11 1995. The 1974 planning permission permitted change of use of the site to rugby and cricket pitches subject to the condition that before any work was commenced the local planning authority approved plans showing the layout of any pitches and car parking. Subsequently the applicant commenced to use the site for tipping which he claimed was permitted under the 1974 planning permission. An enforcement notice dated November 24 1995 was served on the applicant requiring discontinuance of the use of land or tipping of concrete, subsoil and otherwise, removal of all the tipped waste and the restoration of the site within three months. The applicant appealed under section 289 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 and applied for planning permission. The inspector dismissed the appeal, concluding that the tipping was in breach of the 1974 planning permission, and refused the application for planning permission concluding that he had insufficient evidence to conclude that tipping would not cause unacceptable harm to the appearance of the surrounding area. The applicant applied to quash the inspector’s decision.
Held The appeal was dismissed.
1. The issue which the inspector had had to consider was whether the tipping of concrete, subsoil and otherwise was a secondary use for the primary use of the land as rugby and cricket pitches or whether the land was being used for the primary use of tipping in breach of the 1974 planning permission. It was clear that the applicant was using the land as an infill sight for any subsequent use, not for rugby and cricket pitches, which was in breach of the 1974 planning permission.
2. Planning permission should not have been granted subject to plans and conditions since none had not been suggested to the inspector by the applicant. The inspector had had no detailed information about the level of the land after levelling and therefore he had been fully justified in concluding that it would cause unacceptable harm to the appearance of the surrounding area.
Alan Masters (instructed by Battens, of Yeovil) appeared for the applicant; Timothy Mould (instructed by the Treasury Soliticor) appeared for the first respondent; the second respondents did not appear and were not represented.
