Lawful development certificate

battling-on

Anyone know the exact criteria for someone to be able to gain one, I need help on how to oppose one

Thanks

seven-day-weekend

battling-on wrote: »

Anyone know the exact criteria for someone to be able to gain one, I need help on how to oppose one

Thanks

It's a long time since I worked in planning, but IIRC, if the works would have gained planning permission had it been applied for, or if it would have been Permitted Development, then the Certificate of Lawful Development will be granted.

battling-on

Thanks. It's regarding a b1 industrial unit that had a condition of no outside storage, we have been complaining for 6 yrs since a canopy was put up with permission for loading/ unloading, since then we have managed to get an abatement order put on them, trouble is they did infact store some disgusted machinery and waste materials out side, it is now completely full of products and being used as a distribution site from6am-11pm the council say this is irrelevant, how can that be right?? If they get it the residents will have no quality in their homes as the noise makes it impossible
Help

seven-day-weekend

Has the condition about outside storage been revoked?

battling-on

No this is what they are trying to get a lawful certificate for, of course if they get this then it gives the the right to continue being a nuisance

Fire_Fox

Have you complained to Environmental Health about the noise? Each neighbour should do so individually and each should keep a noise diary. Don't confuse one issue with another, an outside storage area is not the cause of the noise.

Have you researched planning legislation? You can't just oppose a development on any grounds that you think seem reasonable, there are specific acceptable reasons. Use them. Also put your case to planning individually, you can work as a group in the background but you want multiple objections to be submitted.

battling-on

Yes we do have an abatement order on them which they are likely to appeal, is intensification and change of use not an argument? I take your point about everyone objecting. The point is that whilst there is outside storage there will be unreasonable day time noise also, which environmental health say it is hard to control, these factories are a. B1 and shouldn't be causing a problem the whole reason the outside storage condition was placed now it would appear that the council have ignored the condition( they do go to the premises and should in my opinion have noticed the breech) and now lost control. It seems unfair when the problem only started 6 yrs ago since the erection of the canopy,

Thanks for your help

Fire_Fox

battling-on wrote: »

Yes we do have an abatement order on them which they are likely to appeal, is intensification and change of use not an argument? I take your point about everyone objecting. The point is that whilst there is outside storage there will be unreasonable day time noise also, which environmental health say it is hard to control, these factories are a. B1 and shouldn't be causing a problem the whole reason the outside storage condition was placed now it would appear that the council have ignored the condition( they do go to the premises and should in my opinion have noticed the breech) and now lost control. It seems unfair when the problem only started 6 yrs ago since the erection of the canopy,

Thanks for your help

Sorry but you are not being clear at all, your punctuation is all over the place, you need to be much more specific about who (which department) did what and what has happened to date. Your title and first post refer to a planning issue only. Council departments are often run entirely autonomously, don't expect them to communicate with one another or know about one another's work, don't refer to it as a single entity.

A noise abatement order, or something else abatement order? Are you saying you have been complaining to Environmental Health or the Planning Department or both? Who is 'we' that have been complaining, you and your wife? Who are 'they' that do go to the premises? What whole reason for the condition? Who in the council say "this is irrelevant" and what is 'this'?

You need to research planning for yourself rather than relying on a forum, it's all online. They will only take certain types of objections into consideration, so you must align your complaints/ concerns with these. Also get your MP and ward councillors involved.

planning_officer

The issue here is that the factory has seemingly applied for a Lawful Development Certificate. That is not a planning application, so the planning merits (noise, disturbance etc are irrelevant).

Basically, once a planning condition has not been complied with for 10 years, it becomes immune from any Council enforcement action. If someone has not complied with a Condition for 10 years, then they can submit an application for a Lawful Development Certificate to regularise the situation - in effect making the non-compliance with the Condition lawful. The onus is on the applicant to provide enough evidence, on the balance of probabilities, to show they have not complied with the condition for that period of time and therefore they no longer have to comply with it.

So, in this case, forget the emotional and stressful issues involved with dealing with the noise and disturbance, and set out - in as much detail as you possibly can - how the use of the yard has changed over the last 10 years. Intensification over the past 10 years is most definitely relevant. You need to convince the Council that the present level of use has not been ongoing for the past 10 years - so, if the use markedly changed 6 years ago, when the canopy was erected, then you need to explain (in detail) how it changed. Set out what was stored on site, when deliveries occurred, where stuff was stored on the site. Then compare that to the current activity and state how it has changed. The detail is so important here.

I'm bemused by the Council saying that something is irrelevant - have you spoken to the Case Officer for this application?