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Application No.: 23/01415/LAW Applicant: EG Services Proposal: Certificate of Lawful Use for the storage of materials and vehicles in association with a construction company Site Address: Shed And Yard Ardonan Nurseries Ardonan Lane Regaby IM7 3HN Planning Officer: Mr Paul Visigah Expected Decision Level: Officer Delegation Recommended Decision: Certificate of Lawful Use/Devel Approved Date of Recommendation: 25.01.2024
C : Conditions for approval N : Notes attached to conditions
C 1. The evidence submitted suggest on the balance of probability that the property as shown in the submitted plans, has indeed been used for the storage of materials and vehicles in association with a construction company (EG Services) for a period in excess of ten years.
Plans/Drawings/Information; This decision relates to application form and documents received 10 January 2024. _______________________________________________________________
Additional Persons
None _____________________________________________________________________________
1.0 INTRODUCTION - 1.1 In accordance with the provisions of Schedule 4, Part 1, paragraph 3 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1999 ("the Act"), a development carried out in breach of planning control shall become immune from enforcement action after a certain period of time, provided that formal enforcement action has not already been taken. The relevant time periods are set out below:
1.2 Section 24 of the Act makes provision for the submission and issuing of a Certificate of Lawfulness to establish the lawfulness of a breach of planning control. - 1.3 An application for a Certificate of Lawfulness is determined on the basis of fact. Unlike an application for planning approval, it is not concerned with land-use planning considerations or the impacts of the development upon the public realm. - 1.4 The principal test is whether, on the balance of probabilities, the breach of planning control has occurred continuously for the given period. The burden of proof rests with the applicant and their evidence must be both precise and unambiguous. If the Planning Directorate has no evidence of its own to contradict that provided by the applicant, then provided that the applicant's evidence is sufficiently precise and unambiguous, a Certificate of Lawfulness may be issued. It is not usually necessary for the Planning Department to corroborate the applicant's evidence.
2.0 THE SITE - 2.1 The application site is the Ardonan Nurseries, Ardonan Lane, Regaby, Ramsey, situated to the south west of Regaby, off Regaby West Road. The site is part of a wider farm unit that includes numerous horticultural buildings, greenhouses and polytunnels. There are several agricultural type barns and a farmhouse on the main part of the site, and there are numerous agricultural fields to the north and south of the site.
3.0 THE PROPOSAL - 3.1 The application seeks a Certificate of Lawful Use for the storage of materials and vehicles in association with a construction company. - 3.2 The application states that the storage use commenced in November 2011 and has been carried out there in the same manner to the current time. They note that the original signed lease which is still in force, invoices from 2013 and 2014 referring to items to be delivered to the site, letters from the site owner from whom the site is leased, demonstrate that the use has been operational on the site for these periods.
4.0 PLANNING HISTORY - 4.1 The site has been the subject of the following previous planning applications:
5.0 REPRESENTATIONS - 5.1 None received at the time of writing this report.
6.0 EVIDENCE SUBMITTED - 6.1 The application has been submitted with the following evidence (in no order):
7.0 ASSESSMENT - 7.1 The applicant seeks to rely on the fact that the area outlined in red on the location and Site Plans has since 2011 been occupied as an operating centre with associated storage of materials and vehicles in association with a construction company (EG Services). The application seeks to demonstrate a period of operation of at least a minimum of 10 years to establish that the development is immune from enforcement action as set out in 1.0 Introduction of this report and Part 4, Section 24(2) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1999. - 7.2 The applicant has provided information in the application form, and other dated supporting information which shows the land being used an operating centre associated with associated storage of materials and vehicles operated by EG Services. The invoices and emails which reference the site as the business address also point to the use of the site for the indicated business, and serve to corroborate and support that the site has been used as operating centre with associated storage of materials and vehicles by EG Services since at least 2011 and this is in excess of the 10 years required to be considered lawful.
8.0 CONCLUSION - 8.1 It is recommended that the application for a Certificate of Lawfulness is agreed.
9.0 INTERESTED PERSON STATUS - 9.1 As the application is for a CLU this is not required to be assessed. There is no right to appeal against this decision.
I can confirm that this decision has been made by the Head of Development Management in accordance with the authority afforded to that Officer by the appropriate DEFA Delegation and that in making this decision the Officer has agreed the recommendation in relation to who should be afforded Interested Person Status
Decision Made : Certificate of Lawful Use/Devel Approved Date : 30.01.2024
Determining officer
Signed : S BUTLER Stephen Butler Head of Development Management
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