Appeal 6002798

The appeal is dismissed.

The main issue is whether the proposal would be permitted development under Schedule 2, Part 3, Class MA of the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) (England) Order 2015 (as amended) (the GPDO).

Article 3(1) and Schedule 2, Part 3, Class MA, of the GPDO provides for a permitted development (PD) right for the change of use of a building falling within use Class E (Commercial, Business and Service) to Class C3 (Dwellinghouses). The proposal seeks to use PD rights for a change of use from office use to use Class C3, facilitating the provision of 8 flats.

The appeal property is a building approved under application 13/3388/FUL which included a condition specifying that “notwithstanding the provision of the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 1995 (as amended) and (or any order revoking or reinacting that order with or without modification the B1 floorspace hereby approved shall not be used for any other purpose than for purposes within class [B1] in the Schedule to the Town and Country Planning ([name]) Order 1987, or in any provision equivalent to that Class in any statutory instrument revoking and re-enacting that Order with or without modification.” This condition takes away PD rights for uses outside of the B1 use class (now covered by Class E). The condition is clear that this includes future PD rights which were not in place when this planning permission was granted. This includes those granted under the current iteration of the GPDO.

Article 3(4) of the GPDO states that “Nothing in this Order permits development contrary to any condition imposed by any planning permission granted or deemed to be granted under Part 3 of the Act otherwise than by this Order”. The effect of this is that development which would be contrary to a condition imposed on a grant of planning permission cannot be PD. The development would be contrary to one such condition. This means that the change of use cannot be PD and can only be achieved through the submission of a full planning application.

The appellant references that planning permission1 has been granted for the change of use of part of the building to residential use. Be that as it may this does not override or supersede the condition on the 2013 permission.

For the reasons set out above the proposal does not benefit from the provisions of permitted development under Schedule 2, Part 3, Class MA of the GPDO.

In terms of the National Planning Policy Framework, the proposal is generally consistent with policies directing development towards sustainable locations, boosting housing delivery and making effective use of previously developed land. However, given the scope of matters for consideration, these matters, and the lack of objections from statutory consultees, fall outside of the prior approval matters and therefore have no bearing on whether the proposal would be PD.

For the reasons given above the appeal is dismissed.