The Castle wanted to make improvements to its visitor parking facilities. Its own application was refused (on the basis of harm to the green belt, local landscape setting and flood risk policy). A subsequent application for a Certificate of Lawful Use had also failed. A Breach of Condition Notice relating to an earlier permission was then served on the owners.

We successfully defended against the Council’s action through the making of fully justified Lawful Development Certificate with evidence demonstrating that the Council had wrongly refused the earlier application (basing its assessment on the wrong legal test) along with proof that the car park had been in regular use since the early 1960s. Subsequently, consent for improvements to the layout and operation of the car park were secured, overcoming earlier policy objections.