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HOW TO AVOID TROUBLE WITH THE COUNCIL

28th November 1996
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Page 28, 28th November 1996 — HOW TO AVOID TROUBLE WITH THE COUNCIL
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

Parking and running your business at home

The development control section of your local council is charged with ensuring that the parking of all vehicles on the public highway does not interfere with the "amenity", or enjoyment and use, of neighbouring homes.

Graham Mitchell, the planning policy and access officer of Birmingham City Council, says his biggest problem is with the parking of commercial vehicles in front of other people's front drives and gardens. "This causes considerable annoyance to neighbours, even on commercialised roads," he says. The council publishes a booklet called Planning Information on Home Based Work Activity. This states: "Commercial uses involving the parking/storage of medium-size and heavy vans and lorries in excess of 30cwt gross weight do need planning permission."

The booklet also advises that vehicle servicing and repairs, including bodywork repairs carried out on a commercial basis, need permission. On haulage contracting, it states that "this type of business is not acceptable in residential properties where a vehicle in excess of 30cwt gross weight is involved".

If planning permission is required, each application is considered on its individual merits with regard to national and local planning guidelines and policies and to the role of the local planning authority in safeguarding residents' amenities.

A report will be prepared for the planning committee including information on the relevant planning issues. These could include any noise or air pollution, traffic, parking or visual appearance considerations. Public consultation responses from any neighbour, local amenity and resident associations will also be included.

If planning permission is refused, the applicant has the right to appeal within six months of the date of refusal to the Secretary of State for the Environment, John Gummer, contact: 0171 276 0920, the public inquiry number for planning issues.

Each authority will have its own policy on the parking of vehicles and many other councils publish advice booklets.

The operating centre There is no hard and fast rule on what requires planning permission, but usually it will be needed for:

• A new operating centre;

• A change of use in that centre, for example when you are doing anything to it such as digging a pit for a fuel bunker, when you change the use of a building, knock down a building, erect a building, add another type of operation—vehicle repairs for example. It is not usually required for an increase/decrease in vehicles.

There is no formal link between the operator licensing system operated by the Traffic Area Offices and planning departments of local councils which administer or refuse planning permission. But even if a haulier holds an 0-licence for so many trucks and trailers, a planning authority may try to impose conditions on planning consent which are not on the 0-licence, or recommend that a haulier does not increase the number of vehicles and trailers which he can legally operate even if there is scope to do this on the 0-licence. Ivan Potts, an officer in the transportation department of Birmingham City Council, has the job of inspecting operating centres to decide if planning permission should be granted. Section 191 of the Town and Country Planning Act charges him with determining the maximum number of goods vehicles which can be parked on an operating centre. When considering areas he assesses whether there is suitable access for vehicles, whether there should be hours conditions because of neighbouring residents, whether there is enough space to park the vehicles and if there is suitable storage space for goods.

The planners' involvement starts after the haulier has applied to the Traffic Area for the new operating centre, either on a new site or for a variation in conditions. The application is published in the applications and decisions document, which is received by all council planning departments. The council then has 21 days to formally object to the application after making an inspection.

While waiting for planning permission to be granted, the haulier should check if he may operate on the site as before. If permission is refused, the council will inform the haulier how long he or she can operate before an enforcement notice is issued. If the haulier continues to operate without planning permission, the matter is handed to the planning department's enforcement section.

It can prosecute offenders, usually before magistrates, impose fines and even order the closure of the business within 28 days of such a court order. Many councils say they always balance the seriousness of the offence--often measured in terms of inconvenience to neighbours—against the loss of employment this would cause.

What the haulier con do Geoffrey Jones, a partner in the Bristol solicitors firm Cartwrights, says that section 14 of the Goods Vehicles Licensing Act, which introduced continuous licensing in January this year, could help hauliers facing a planning dispute with the council. This gives provision for the granting of a Certificate of Lawful Use by the council, even when planning permission has not been allowed. If planning permission is refused, there are seven statements which the owner of the land can use to appeal the decision: • The change for which planning permission is required has been carried on for more than 10 years; • It does not amount to a material change of use; • The facts alleged did not happen; • There was not enough time to apply; • The council has not served a notice telling me what to do; • It did serve the notice, but not to the appropriate people; • The facts alleged have happened, but I do not need planning permission. Jones adds that hauliers must seek a solicitor's advice on buying or leasing a site, to carry out searches to check there is no restriction on the use of the land. They should keep on good terms with their neighbours and keep a dialogue going with the local planning office. On moving into an area or planning expansion, they should consult the county plan (county councils' long-term vision of the use of the land in the area) or the unitary authority plan (for all other councils in England and Wales) for a list of areas where a green field operating centre would be favoured.

Some councils—Surrey County Council for one—will send a list of favoured addresses. Contact the Royal Town Planning Institute publications department on 0171 636 9107 for a full list of planning authorities in the UK and relevant contact names. Contact the following members of the Association of Road Transport Lawyers for specialist planning advice: Michael Carless 0121 550 2181; Ian Rothera 0115 941 4415; Michael Goatlee 01473 611211; Geoffrey Jones/Emrys Parry 0117 929 3601.


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