Enforcement Notice Quashed at Appeal

On behalf of a long-standing Client, Hughes Craven Ltd. have successfully appealed both the refusal of planning permission to retain a quantity of imported soils, and an Enforcement Notice requiring their removal.

Our involvement in the site, which lies adjacent to a regionally important limestone quarry, started in 2011, when we helped the landowner to obtain permission, at Appeal, for a residential development by addressing various mineral safeguarding issues.

Soils were imported to the site as part of the consented residential development however it became clear to the developer that, in order to ensure the stability of the site, the adjacent historic mineral workings also required infilling.

The County Council took the view that a proportion of the soils had been imported without the benefit of planning permission and accordingly invited the submission of a retrospective planning application to regularise the situation. Despite obtaining officer recommendation to grant planning permission, the Application was refused at committee and the County Council subsequently issued an Enforcement Notice requiring the removal of the soils.

Hughes Craven Ltd. appealed both the refusal of the Application and the Enforcement Notice to the Planning Inspectorate, with the two appeals being conjoined and determined via a hearing in May 2021. Working with both the Appellant’s barrister and ecological consultant, we achieved a successful outcome for both Appeals, with the Enforcement Notice quashed and planning permission granted for the retention of the soils.

Whilst the refusal of planning permission or the serving of an Enforcement Notice is never desirable, Hughes Craven Ltd. can help in a variety of ways – contact us to find out how we may be able to help.