Cases - Jennings Motors Ltd v Secretary of State for the Environment and New Forest District Council

Record details

Name

Jennings Motors Ltd v Secretary of State for the Environment and New Forest District Council

Date

[1982]

Citation

1 AII ER 471

Keywords

Enforcement notice - material change of use

Summary

The appellants occupied a half-acre site for the repair and maintenance of vehicles and the sale and hire of cars. They demolished a workshop and erected a new building in its place without planning permission. The new building covered about 6% of the site. The local planning authority took enforcement action, but did not require the removal of the building. Instead they required the use of the new building to be discontinued on the basis that its use was a material change of use. The notice was upheld on the basis that a new building creates a new planning unit.

The Court of Appeal held that the erection of a building is merely one of the factors to be taken into account in determining whether there is a new chapter in the planning history or, and it means the same thing, a new planning unit. The new building was relatively small and merely replaced existing buildings. The case was remitted to the Secretary of State to reconsider his decision in the light of the Court's guidance as to the correct legal approach.

By a majority the Court also observed that, although the term 'planning unit' is somewhat confusing as it combines concepts of both geography and history, it is to be preferred to 'change in the planning history'.