®Planning appeal decision
Land At Hopkins Reed Woods, Hatch Lane, Witley, GU8 5UX
‘ Without planning permission: i) In the area coloured yellow on the attached plan the material change of use from a forest use to a storage use for storage of equipment and materials for a commercial building company. ii) In the area coloured yellow on the attached plan an engineering operation consisting of the laying of hardstanding. iii) In the approximate area dashed thick black from point A-B on the attached plan an engineering operation comprising of the laying of hardstanding to create a privat e way
- Authority
- Waverley Borough Council
- Appeal type
- enforcement · Enforcement Notice
- Procedure
- Inquiry
- Development
- employment-industrial · Change of use
- Inspector
- Higenbottam H
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- The issue is whether or not the works carried out in the ASA, consisting of the laying of a hardstanding, is an engineering operation (ground (b))
- This ground of appeal is that at the date when the notice was issued, no enforcement action could be taken (ground (d))
- This ground of appeal is that the requirements of the notice are excessive and lesser steps would overcome the objections (ground (f))
- The remaining issue to be determined on the appeals is the lawfulness of the laying of hardstanding within the Ancillary Storage Area (Appeal B)
What decided it
The finding, based on aerial photographs and site evidence, that the hardstanding within the ASA had been substantially recreated as an engineering operation between 2017 and 2020, within four years of the notice, meaning it was not immune from enforcement.
Judgments cited: Fayerwood Fish Farms Ltd v the Secretary of State for the Environment
The main issues and the deciding factor are read from the published letter by Town Planner Pro; the letter itself is the record. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Research, not advice.