Durrants Jasmine Philpott, Senior Planner and Development Surveyor describes a South Norfolk Class Q appeal success story.
Durrants and a longstanding client are celebrating this week after a Class Q application on a redundant farm near Harleston were overturned by the Planning Inspectorate, despite being refused twice by the Council.
18 months after the first Class Q application was refused, PINS allowed the appeal and awarded costs against South Norfolk Council for their unreasonable behaviour during the appeal.
The background
Class Q allows for the change of use of an agricultural building to one or more dwellings. Class Q legislation is more restrictive than planning policy, but is generally also less subjective, meaning it is usually easier to predict whether an application will succeed.
The barn in question was surrounded by numerous redundant farm buildings owned by the applicant. They were empty at the time the application was made. Another agricultural building in separate ownership was located around 40m from the application site. As part of the first application, Durrants showed the redundant buildings to be demolished on plan, and suggested that their demolition could be conditioned as part of the planning approval. This was standard practice in South Norfolk previously, and Durrants had made numerous applications in which buildings outside of the application area were conditioned for demolition in this way.
The refusal
The first Class Q application was unexpectedly refused, as the Council was of the opinion that it was not possible to impose planning conditions on Class Q approvals anymore, and that the buildings would need to be demolished before a new application is made.
As many readers will appreciate, demolishing buildings can be very costly, and would have been a risky course of action given that there was a chance that a subsequent application might be refused.
The Council were also of the view that the neighbouring barn outside the applicant’s ownership could be intensified in use, in a way that could result in noise, odour and insects disturbing future occupants.
Durrants resubmitted the application, supported by noise and odour reports from independent consultants, both of which found that the risk of any disturbance in these regards was low. Alterations were also made to the design to provide additional mitigation against these risks. The Council’s Environmental Protection Officer (EPO) had no objection to the application. The Council however refused the application for a second time despite the findings of the reports and their EPO.
The appeal
An appeal was subsequently lodged. During the appeal, the Council conceded that their position on the ability to place conditions on prior approvals was wrong. Half of their reason for refusal thus fell away.
The Inspector ultimately allowed the appeal, citing the noise and odour reports, the lack of objection from the EPO and the reality that future residents of a rural area will reasonably expect a degree of disturbance from agricultural activities as reasons for her conclusion. She also agreed with Durrants’ argument that the barn outside of the applicant’s ownership was too small to ever be used intensively.
This appeal was a huge win for us and our client, and set an important precedent on this issue that will be useful for future Class Q applicants in South Norfolk and elsewhere.
This article first appeared in the Diss Express, published 13th December 2024.
