®Planning appeal decision
Land Adjoining Huntsland Farm Being Valley View Paddock, Church Hill, Pinhoe, Exeter, EX4 9JJ
Planning appeal 3368794 at Land Adjoining Huntsland Farm Being Valley View Paddock, Church Hill, Pinhoe, Exeter, EX4 9JJ (East Devon District Council) was dismissed on 7 January 2026 by Inspector Graham J, following an inquiry. The main issue, as the Inspector framed it: The appeal on grounds (b) and (c).
Without planning permission, the carrying out of unauthorised operational development and the material change of use of Land from agricultural use to a mixed use of agriculture and residential and storage by virtue of: A) the unauthorised change of use of a barn to use as a single dwellinghouse and erection of an ancillary building on the Land whose approximate positions are shown edged in blue on the enclosed Location Plan; B) the siting and storage of a single decker bus on the Land whose approximate position is shown edged in purple on the enclosed Location Plan; and C) the siting of other non-agricultural items on the Land (including a glass covered notice board whose approximate position is shown edged in green on the enclosed Location Plan)
- Authority
- East Devon District Council
- Appeal type
- enforcement · Enforcement Notice
- Procedure
- Inquiry
- Development
- residential · Change of use
- Inspector
- Graham J
- Postcode
- EX4 9JJ
Main issues, as the Inspector framed them
- The appeal on grounds (b) and (c)
- The appeal on ground (d)
- The appeal on ground (f)
What decided it
The extant and unchallenged 2019 enforcement notice, which independently and permanently required cessation of residential use of the land and removal of the bus, meant the current breaches could not be regularised regardless of the merits argued under grounds (c) and (d).
The Inspector weighed the Appellant's Article 8 rights and personal circumstances (age, disruption, animal welfare) against the public interest in upholding the enforcement notice and the operation of the planning system, concluding that a nine-month compliance period struck a proportionate balance.
What the Inspector cited
- Judgments
- First Secretary of State v Arun DC and ors [2006] EWCA Civ 1172; R v Secretary of State for the Environment ex parte Ostler [1977] Q.B 122; Cardiff Rating Authority v Guest Keen Baldwin's Iron and Steel Co Ltd [1949] 1QB 385; Skerrits of Nottingham Ltd v SSETR (No. 2) [2000] 2 PLR 102; Staffordshire CC v Challinor & Robinson [2007] EWCA Civ 864; [2008] JPL 392
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
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With an account
What an account adds to this decision
More decisions in East Devon
The authority’s record since 2016 · every decision in 2026
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- Notice varied and upheld19 February 20263354198Land Adjoining Harcombe Farm, Harcombe, Uplyme, Lyme Regis, DT7 3RN
- Notice varied and upheld19 February 20263321021Land Adjoining Harcombe Farm, Harcombe, Uplyme, Lyme Regis, Devon, DT7 3RN
- Notice upheld11 February 20263361196Land Adjoining Pencroft, Wilmington , Honiton , EX14 9JW
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.