Cases - R (Harbige) v Secretary of State for CLG

Record details

Name
R (Harbige) v Secretary of State for CLG
Date
[2012]
Citation
EWHC 1128 (Admin)
Legislation
Keywords
Enforcement notice
Summary

Various unlawful D1 uses had been carried out over a period exceeding 10 years. Eventually the LPA served an enforcement notice because of complaints of noise from neighbours. The owner pleaded immunity. The LPA claimed that immunity had not been gained because each new D1 use was a material change of use and so reset the clock. This argument was based on the premise that the different D1 uses were unlawful and section 55(2)(f) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (which states that a change within a use class is not development) only applies to lawful uses. The court disagreed. There is no implication in the statute that section 55(2)(f) only applies where the existing use was lawful. So none of the subsequent changes constituted development and enforcement action could no longer be taken.