The appellant sought to quash the decision to confirm an enforcement notice which required him to remove a log cabin from his land. The issue arose whether the cabin was a caravan in law.
Held: It was not a caravan since it was not assembled on site out of two separately constructed sections. Rich QC J stated that ”when assembled’ means when and as assembled in the state where the question of whether or not it is to be deemed a caravan falls to be determined’.
As to whether the structure could meet the mobility requirement: ‘The consideration of the mobility test in paragraph 11 [of the Inspector’s decision] clearly has regard to the movability of the structure from the particular site upon which it had been erected. This, Mr Boyle urges upon me, is an error of law, because, he says, what is to be considered is the nature of the structure rather than the circumstances of the structure in regard to the particular place where is has been erected.
I am uncertain what is the true construction of section 13(1)(b) in this respect. It appeared to me, when I read the paragraph at first, that the phrase ‘when assembled’ is a clear indication that its mobility is to be tested by reference to the circumstances where and how it had in fact been assembled.
Mr Boyle submits and submits persuasively, that there is an alternative meaning of ‘when assembled’, namely in its assembled state. He submits further, that since what is to be considered is whether it is capable of being moved by road from one place to another, it is not to be construed as meaning from the particular place where it has in fact been erected. That I find a highly persuasive argument and one which I would readily accept if I did not immediately recognise the source of the expression ‘one place to another’ which is merely a repetition of the phrase which had been found already in the definition of section 29(1) of the 1960 Act.
I remain, therefore, inclined to the view that the proper construction of the paragraph is that which I first gave it, namely that when assembled means when and as assembled in the state where the question of whether or not it is to be deemed to be a caravan falls to be determined. I readily acknowledge that I may be wrong as to that construction of the paragraph, and it is therefore convenient that I should go on to consider, on the assumption that what is to be considered is the structure independent of its position, whether there would be reason to interfere with the Inspector’s decisions.’
Judges:
Rich QC J
Citations:
[1997] EWHC Admin 190, (1997) 74 PandCR 420
Links:
Cited by:
Cited – Brightlingsea Haven Ltd and Another v Morris and others QBD 30-Oct-2008
The caravan park operated under planning consents requiring the caravans to be occupied only during certain months. The defendants had bought their mobile homes from the claimants to occupy full time, and said that the claimants knew of this. The . .
Cited – Bury Metropolitan Borough Council v Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government and Another Admn 12-Aug-2011
The council appealed against the inspector’s decision to quash its enforcement notice. The land-owner occupied a wooden structure which he said was a caravan, but the council said was a residence and an unlawful change of use of agricultural land. . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Planning
Updated: 25 May 2022; Ref: scu.137135