Agenda item

The following question was submitted by Councillor Henry Hobhouse:

Land Adjacent Foxes Run, Bridgwater Buildings, Castle Cary

Foxes Run planning application was granted at appeal on 25 April 2019 and conditions were applied.

On 25 April 2022 the planning consent was void.  None of the pre-commencement conditions were carried out.

Legal Services have advised that this planning application is not dead as the conditions are not enforceable.  Could Legal Services please explain at the Council meeting why planning conditions cannot be enforced?

The Monitoring Officer responded that a written response had been provided to Councillor Hobhouse as follows:

Dear Cllr Hobhouse

We are writing in response to your question regarding the above planning application.

Land Adjacent Foxes Run, Bridgwater Buildings, Castle Cary

The Foxes Run planning application was granted at appeal on 25 April 2019 and conditions were applied.  On 25 April 2022, the planning consent was void. None of the pre-commencement conditions were carried out.

Legal Services have advised that this planning application is not dead as the conditions are not enforceable. Could Legal Services please explain at the Council meeting why planning conditions cannot be enforced?

Your question contains some key assumptions, and it is important to clarify these.  Firstly, we would comment that the applicant undertook works on site prior to the expiry of the permission.  Based on the information supplied by the applicant at the time, the Council confirmed that works had materially commenced to allow the permission to remain ‘alive’ but that response was caveated with provisos. Subsequently, the Council has received allegations from third parties that the development was not materially commenced within the correct time period or with correct works having been initiated. This is strongly refuted by the applicant. The Council is investigating evidence and comments submitted by the opposing parties and it has not yet been decided whether or not these works comprise a start on site.

You also state that none of the pre-commencement conditions were carried out.  It is not clear what you are referring to here, but we can confirm that those conditions (or parts thereof) that needed to be discharged before the permission would expire (thus allowing the permission to remain ‘alive’) were approved and details of the correspondence discharging those conditions are on the website. Following this, the applicant was therefore able to make a meaningful start on site.

You say that ‘Legal Services have advised that this planning application is not dead as the conditions are not enforceable’.   Again, it is not clear what you are referring to.  Conditions are enforceable, however whether the Council considers it expedient to take formal enforcement action would depend on the individual circumstances and whether such action is reasonable and proportionate, or whether a breach can be resolved through negotiation and compliance. 

We hope we have been able to clarify the issues you have raised in your question, but please come back to us again if you have any further queries.

Yours sincerely

Kirsty Larkins

Service Delivery Director

Jill Byron

District Solicitor and Monitoring Officer

Councillor Henry Hobhouse responded that the reply given had not answered his question.

The Monitoring Officer responded that there had been delays in replying to correspondence due to staff shortages however, she understood that meetings had taken place on-site with officers and a solution was being sought.