The GTH planning team prepared and submitted two applications for certificates of lawfulness.
Somerset Industrial Site
At a glance
- Client had been living on site without planning permission consent for over 10 years
- Client had been running a commercial business from the site without planning permission for over ten years
- Applications for two certificates of lawfulness were prepared and submitted
- Both applications approved
The Brief
The client approached GTH in 2022 regarding a range of unauthorised uses at their site in Somerset. This included living on-site and running a commercial business, all without the benefit of planning permission. The client wanted to regularise this situation and ultimately ensure the property was immune from future enforcement action.
The Result
The GTH planning team prepared two applications for certificates of lawfulness. One for the ongoing commercial use and a second for the residential use of the site. This involved preparing an accompanying statement, site plan and statutory declarations for the applicant and their witnesses to sign. The aim was to demonstrate that on the balance of probability the uses had been ongoing for a continuous period exceeding 10 years and therefore are lawful and immune from enforcement action.
The comprehensive nature of the evidence presented a compelling case in favour of the applications. This meant the Council was able to process and ultimately approve the applications in a timely manner.
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