®Planning appeal decision
Land at Messengers Nursery, Nursery Road, Nazeing, EN9 2JF
Planning appeal 3276736 at Land at Messengers Nursery, Nursery Road, Nazeing, EN9 2JF (Epping Forest District Council) was decided (quashed on legal grounds) on 31 March 2022 by Inspector Higenbottam H, following an inquiry. The main issue, as the Inspector framed it: Whether, on the balance of probabilities, the dwelling now known as Orchard Leigh House has been occupied for a period of at least ten years in breach of condition 3 of planning permission EPF/345/83 and that the use is lawful.
Without planning permission: Change of use of the Land for a mixed purpose of storage of shelving and racking, retail sales of shelving and racking, stationing of portable buildings and containers Storage and parking of non-agricultural commercial vehicles, storage of non-agricultural commercial vehicles, storage of non-agricultural equipment and storage of vehicles. Erection of buildings for non-agricultural purposes
- Authority
- Epping Forest District Council
- Appeal type
- enforcement · Enforcement Notice
- Procedure
- Inquiry
- Development
- other · Change of use
- Inspector
- Higenbottam H
- Postcode
- EN9 2JF
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- Whether, on the balance of probabilities, the dwelling now known as Orchard Leigh House has been occupied for a period of at least ten years in breach of condition 3 of planning permission EPF/345/83 and that the use is lawful
- Whether, on the balance of probabilities, the use of the land edged red (excluding the blue edged land) on Plan CC001 has been used for Class B8 of the Use Classes Order 1987 (as amended), for storage, and the stationing of a mobile home for residential use on the land cross hatched black on Plan CC001
What decided it
The imprecision of the enforcement notice as drafted (failing to properly identify the planning unit, uses and buildings) led to its quashing, while for the two certificate of lawfulness appeals the decisive factor was whether ten years' continuous unlawful use/occupation had been clearly and unambiguously evidenced, which was established for Orchard Leigh House but not for the yard, where an unexpired 1987 enforcement notice also barred a finding of lawfulness.
What the Inspector cited
- Judgments
- Burdle & Williams v SSE & New Forest DC [1972] 1 WLR 1207
How the Inspector dealt with each one is set out in the app, in order: the development plan, national policy, housing land supply, other considerations and the planning balance, beside the letter.
See how each was appliedThe decision letter
Town Planner Pro holds this letter. The Appeals plan opens it and every other letter we hold, all of them searchable, with the main issues and what decided each case picked out. We do not show letters on the free site because they carry people’s names and addresses.
With an account
What an account adds to this decision
More decisions in Epping Forest District Council
The authority’s record since 2016 · every decision in 2022
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- Dismissed23 February 2026336839747 Roydon Lodge Estate, High Street, Roydon, Harlow, CM19 5EF
- Notice varied and upheld8 January 20263335040The Mole Trap PH, Tawney Common, Stapleford Tawney Epping, Essex, CM16 7PU
- Allowed12 December 20253353579The Annex, 2 Holyfield Cottages, Holyfield Road, Waltham Abbey , EN9 2EL
The main issues, what decided it, the planning balance and the policies and judgments listed as cited are read from the published letter by Town Planner Pro and are our summary, not the Inspector’s words; the letter itself is the record. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Research, not advice.