Whenever it is possible to recognise a single main purpose of the occupier’s use of his land to which secondary activities are incidental, the whole unit of occupation should be considered as one planning unit.
Lord Parker CJ: ‘Town and Country Planning is a comprehensive operation and . . its object, namely overall control of development, would be seriously impeded if a narrow view were to be taken as to the relevant considerations.’
Lord Denning MR: ‘You should look at the whole area on which a particular activity is carried on, including uses which are ordinarily incidental to or included in the activity.’
Diplock LJ: ‘What is the unit which the local authority are entitled to look at and deal with in an enforcement notice for the purpose of determining whether or not there has been a ‘material change in the use of any building or other land’? As I suggested in the course of the argument, I think that for that purpose what the local authority are entitled to look at is the whole of the area which was used for a particular purpose including any part of that area whose use was incidental to or ancillary to the achievement of that purpose.’ and ‘I do not think that anywhere, except in a court of law, it would be argued with gravity that a Dutch barn or grain and fodder stores or any ordinary farm building are properly described as repositories. A Gloucestershire farmer would say they were farm buildings and would laugh at their being called ‘repositories’.’
Judges:
Diplock LJ, Lord Parker CJ, Lord Denning MR
Citations:
[1966] 1 All ER 704, [1966] 1 WLR 506, [1966] 130 JP 179, [1966] 64 LGR 134
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
Applied – Burdle v Secretary of State for the Environment QBD 22-Jun-1972
The appellants had purchased land which had been used as a dwelling with a lean-to annex which had been used as a scrap yard, selling off car parts. The appellant had reconstructed the annex with a shop front, and began to use it more substantially . .
Cited – Main v Secretary of State for Environment and South Oxfordshire District Council Admn 22-May-1998
. .
Cited – Stewart, Regina (on the Application of) v First Secretary of State for Environment and Another Admn 28-Jul-2004
. .
Considered – Wealden District Council v Secretary of State for Environment and Colin Day CA 1988
Land was in an area designated to be of outstanding natural beauty. The Council sought the removal of a caravan used to provide weatherproof storage for cattle food and shelter for the farmer, saying that this amounted to a material change of use. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Planning
Updated: 14 May 2022; Ref: scu.246373