A Sussex smallholder today failed in his challenge to an order requiring him to remove caravans and mobile homes from his farm at Small Acres, Clappers Lane, Fulking, West Sussex.
Eady J gave rare-horse-breeder, William Charles Boyle, 14 days to remove the caravans and mobile homes.
Boyle had claimed that the caravan site had existed since 1914, long before the 1948 Town and Country Planning Act came into force. He contended that it was therefore immune from attempts by Mid Sussex District to enforce its removal under planning laws.
However the judge held that, while he might be right about the length of time there had been a caravan site on the land, his arguments were “fundamentally flawed”. The judge found that Boyle was in breach of planning control and the council were entitled to the injunction.
Eady J ruled that section 285 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 clearly stated that the validity of enforcement notices could only be challenged by mounting an appeal to the Secretary of State for the Environment, not the courts.
He said that as that avenue of appeal had already been exhausted, the court had no power to reopen the issue.
Mid Sussex District Council v Boyle Queen’s Bench Division (Eady J) 20 July 2001.
PLS News 23/7/01
