Cases - Brooks and Burton v Secretary of State for the Environment
Record details
- Name
- Brooks and Burton v Secretary of State for the Environment
- Date
- [1978]
- Citation
- 1 AII ER 733
- Legislation
- Keywords
- Planning control
- Summary
-
Land and buildings had been used between 1963 and 1973 for the making of concrete blocks without planning permission. No enforcement action had been taken, so the use was immune. The appellants took over the business, modernised it, and increased production significantly. Enforcement action was taken and, on appeal, the Secretary of State held that the new working procedures and the intensification of capacity was a material change of use.
The Court of Appeal held that as the whole site was a 'general industrial building' under Class IV of the old Use Classes Order, the intensification was still within this use class and so the owners were entitled to the benefit of what is now section 55(2)(f).
The Court of Appeal upheld the view of the Divisional Court in the Guildford case and confirmed that whether intensification is material is a question of fact:
'We have no doubt that intensification of use can be a material change of use. Whether it is or not depends on the degree of intensification. Matters of degree are for the Secretary of State to decide.'