Lawful Development Certificates Approved

Tyler Parkes has successfully secured four Lawful Development Certificates (LDC) establishing the use of several former agricultural buildings and the adjacent land for a combination of storage and distribution, manufacturing, and retail, workshop and office uses.

A Lawful Development Certificate is a legal document stating the lawfulness of past, present or future building use, operations, or other matters. The test for a Council to grant a Lawful Development Certificate to establish an existing (non-domestic) use is whether ‘on the balance of probability’ that use had occurred for a minimum of 10 years, without interruption, enforcement, hindrance or concealment, and that no other material use had occurred throughout this period.

In advance of submitting the four LDC applications, our Planning team undertook a detailed investigation of the client’s records, the site’s planning history and other available information including aerial photographs, tenant and statutory websites. The purpose of this exercise was to ascertain what evidence was available to support the client’s application.

We prepared each of the applications and supported the applicant in the preparation of a Statutory Declaration, a signed and witnessed statement that set out the details from the direct knowledge of the landowner. We liaised with the Council throughout the applications’ determination.

Given the historical use of this site and the number of tenants occupying the buildings over the 10-year period, the detailed investigations and clear presentation of evidence were key in supporting the Council reaching its view.

All four Lawful Development Certificates were granted under delegated powers on 26 May 2022.