Published Thursday 1 May 2025 at 13:26
An appeal has been lodged challenging the Council’s decision to refuse retrospective planning permission for a change of use of land at Hall Moss Farm – close to Whitehall Park in Darwen.
The landowner was seeking a change of use from agriculture to a Gypsy caravan site, including six plots – each with a static and two mobile caravans.
In addition, the application also sought permission for a utility block, porous stone hard standing and associated fencing.
The planning application was assessed through the Council’s planning process – underpinned by national planning policy – and it was refused on five grounds:
- The principle of the development
- The detrimental impact on the highway network, including public rights of ways
- Visual impact
- Ecological issues
- Lack of assessment on the impact on the landscape character
The applicant has now appealed against the decision to the Government’s Planning Inspectorate.
A period of consultation will be undertaken until June 3rd 2025, full details can be found using this link.
Please enter case number: 3364334
Enforcement action
The Council issued a stop notice and Enforcement Notice in July 2024 to stop all engineering works, including the provision of utility services (water, electricity, etc.), the importing and depositing of waste material for hard services, and to prevent the unlawful residential use of the land there, requiring the removal of all caravans and associated works.
The Enforcement Notice set out that the land must be returned to the condition it was before. Legally, we must give an appropriate amount of time to allow this to happen.
Following an appeal by the landowner, the Planning Inspector upheld our enforcement notice.
However, the nine months we had originally allowed from July 2024 has been extended to eleven months from February this year, when the Planning Inspector upheld the enforcement notice.
We will continue to monitor and review the enforcement proceedings on the advice of our legal advisors.