Cases - Belmont Riding Centre v First Secretary of State and London Borough of Barnet

Record details

Name
Belmont Riding Centre v First Secretary of State and London Borough of Barnet
Date
[2003]; [2004]
Citation
EWHC 1895 (Admin); 2 PLR 8
Legislation
Keywords
Planning control
Summary

The appellant claimed that the planning unit had existing use rights as a riding centre. He therefore claimed that a change to a health and fitness centre would not be development if both uses were in class D2.

It was determined that use as a riding centre existed, if at all, as one of a number of mixed uses across the whole planning unit, including agricultural and residential uses. Mr Justice Richards rejected the argument that there is no material change if one component of the mixed use falls within D2 and is replaced by another use within D2. The focus is on the mixed use as a whole, not the individual components of a mixed use.

'The use classes order has no application to a mixed use: the mixed use does not itself fall within any class and a finding of material change of use is not avoided simply by showing that a component falling within a particular class has been substituted for another component falling within the same class.'

(Approved by the Court of Appeal in Fidler v First Secretary of State.)