Most householders are entitled to make decorative and other fairly minor changes to their properties without planning permission but, if they live in a conservation area, much tougher rules apply. A High Court case showed the wisdom of seeking professional advice before getting out your paintbrush.
The case concerned a man who replaced the wooden windows on the front elevation of his property with plastic units and painted its render a shade of dark grey. The General Permitted Development Order (GPDO) ordinarily applies to such works, which therefore do not usually require planning consent.
The property was, however, in a conservation area and the local council had issued a direction that the GPDO would not apply to the protected locale. It issued a planning enforcement notice against the man requiring him to restore the wooden windows and to paint his property white. The council later prosecuted him for failing to comply with the notice and he was convicted by magistrates.
Challenging the conviction, he pointed out that the council was unable to produce before the magistrates either the original or a copy of the direction. The document had been lost, probably when the council moved from paper to electronic record-keeping. In the absence of the document, he argued that no breach of planning control could be proved against him.
Dismissing his appeal, however, the Court noted that the council and residents of the area had for years proceeded on the understanding that the GPDO did not apply in the conservation area. Planning permissions had been granted, and enforcement notices issued, on that basis and it had never previously been suggested that a valid direction was not in place. Despite the disappearance of the direction itself, the notice by which it was confirmed had been uncovered.
The Court found that the magistrates were bound to conclude on the evidence that it had been proved beyond reasonable doubt that the direction existed. By virtue of Section 285(1) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, the man could in any event only challenge the validity of the enforcement notice by appealing to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, a step which he had not taken. The sole issue the magistrates therefore had to decide was whether he had breached the enforcement notice, which he plainly had.
If you need advice regarding a planning permission issue, please contact a member of our Development team.