DC Casebook: Court cases - Inspector's verdict upheld on case facts

Planning, 22 August 2008

The inspector decided that no breach of planning control was involved because the animals grazed the land and lived primarily off the grass grown on it. The use remained within the definition of agriculture, he decided. The council claimed that the district was plagued by horse-related uses and structures and the decision would set an undesirable precedent. It contended that keeping the animals on the land required planning permission because their diet was supplemented by imported hay and they were regularly visited by their owner.

Mr Justice Brown ruled that the inspector had to decide whether the horses were being kept on the site, which would require planning permission, or whether they were primarily grazing the land. This was a question of fact rather than a point of law, he ruled. In his view, no precedent had been set by the inspector's decision because it had been determined on the merits of the case.

Harrogate Borough Council v Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government

Date 16 July 2008

Ref CO/2991/2008.