Use of vacant land in Peterborough as car park and car storage deemed unlawful by council

Peterborough City Council has denied planning permission to the use of land in Lynch Wood for car parking and car storage.

The land, located adjacent to the Grade II listed Pearl Centre on Lynch Wood, is subject to an application for 32 new commercial units, which is set to be approved subject to landowners f FI Real Estate Management Ltd entering into a Section 106 agreement with the council.

Pending the official granting of permission, FI has used the land temporarily for car parking and car storage under the assumption that planning permission was not required.

When being informed by the council that this was not the case and informed by the council of breach of planning, a retrospective application was submitted.

The application’s covering letter stated: “FIREM apologies for introducing the use in advance of securing a relevant planning permission for it, and this is the purpose of this retrospective planning application for the temporary use.

"It is not FIREM’s intention to operate this use into the long-term future nor as a permanent use rather it sees this operation lasting from now until it is in a position, and it makes commercial sense, to implement the planning permission for the industrial unit development.

"Accordingly, in making this application to receive retrospective planning permission for the change of use to use the land for car parking, it is not seeking a permanent planning permission, rather a temporary planning permission for a period of three years from date of grant of consent.

"The use of land within the Business Park for car parking is an appropriate and common use of land in and around buildings, and is not of itself an unusual “meanwhile” use of cleared land before redevelopment in such locations.”

“We are aware that this is made in parallel to a temporary change of use of what was previously a car park associated with the office use at Pearl House, and that car park will temporarily by used for storage and distribution of motor vehicles.”

Both of the applications, for the storage and distribution of cars, as well as car parking, have been now been reused though.

Among the reasons for refusal, the decision notice stated: “Insufficient information has been provided to demonstrate that the development in isolation or cumulatively does not have an adverse impact on the highway network, that satisfactory parking and turning for staff and delivery vehicles, including car transporters, would be provided, or that the existing vehicle access is suitable to serve the application site and the neighbouring car storage site.

Concerns about the impact on neighbouring businesses and the impact on biodiversity were also raised.

A new application must now be submitted or an appeal lodged, otherwise the current use of the land will have to cease.