Cases - Wallington v Secretary of State for Wales and Montgomeryshire District Council

Record details

Name

Wallington v Secretary of State for Wales and Montgomeryshire District Council

Date

[1991]

Citation

1 PLR 87

Legislation

Town and Country Planning Act 1970

Keywords

Planning control

Summary

W kept in excess of 40 dogs at her house as a hobby. The local planning authority served an enforcement notice alleging a material change of use and requiring the number of dogs to be reduced to six. W's appeal was dismissed by the inspector, who determined the matter on the basis of whether it was reasonable to regard the keeping of so many dogs as incidental, or whether it was so significant as to constitute a separate use.

The Court of Appeal upheld the inspector's approach. In particular, the Court placed emphasis on the words 'as such' in the legislation. These words mean that the use must be incidental to the dwellinghouse as a dwellinghouse.

'The mere fact that an occupier may genuinely regard the relevant activity as a hobby cannot possibly suffice to prove by itself that the purpose is incidental to the enjoyment of the dwellinghouse as a dwellinghouse.' (Lord Justice Slade)

Thus an objective approach has to be made to the given facts. Of relevance might be the situation of the dwelling, its size, the nature and scale of the activity and other matters. As usual it is a question of fact and degree.