Land at Yew Tree Farm, Stone Street, Stanford, ASHFORD, Kent, TN25 6DH

without planning permission, the material change of use of land from agriculture to use for the provision of training in the use of construction plant and machinery; and the creation of earth mounds

Authority: Folkestone and Hythe District Council
Appeal type: enforcement · Enforcement Notice
Procedure: Inquiry
Development: employment-industrial · Change of use
Inspector: Steen A

Main issues, as the Inspector framed them

Whether, on the balance of probability, the use began more than 10 years before the notice was issued on 20 June 2025, such that no enforcement action could be taken (ground (d))

What decided it

The Inspector found that the training use began on 10 December 2014 and continued without material cessation, including through the Covid-19 lockdown, so that it had subsisted for at least 10 years before the notice was issued.

Judgments cited: Jones v Isle of Anglesey CC [2025] JPL 6; Miles v National Assembly for Wales [2007] JPL 1235

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