LAKE District landowners have been ordered to remove buildings and to stop using lakeshore land for parking.
The Planning Inspectorate has dismissed appeals from Mr J Batty, Mr K Batty and the Rawdon-Smith Trust regarding the use of land around a boathouse at Bank Ground Farm on the shoreline of Coniston Water, and upheld an enforcement notice served by the Lake District National Park Authority.
The breach of planning control, as alleged in the notice, on land north of the boathouse includes the formation of two stone walls, the backfilling of land to create a raised platform as well as the construction of four facility buildings.
On land south of the boathouse, the enforcement notice relates to the use of lakeshore land for parking and/or storage, the formation of a stone wall and the backfilling of land to create a raised platform.
In appeal documents, Mr J and K Batty argued that the land had been used for agriculture and leisure uses for ‘decades’. This has included storage of boats, watercraft and parking of associated vehicles.
However, the report by the Planning Inspectorate says: “On the limited evidence that is before me, I conclude that the creation of the raised platforms has resulted in uses that may previously have been taking place on an occasional and informal basis now taking place more frequently and taking on a formal character.”
The enforcement notices require the appellants to stop using the land for parking and storage within a month.
In an appeal, the Rawdon Smith Trust said it would be ‘unreasonable’ for the trust to be subject to the enforcement notice as it had ‘no part in carrying out the work’ and only partly owns some land in the enforcement notice area.
The planning inspector added that only a ‘thin sliver’ of land owned by the trust falls into the boundary of the land to which the notice relates.
However the inspector states: “Nevertheless, the Authority was perfectly entitled to serve a copy of the notice on the Trust as an owner of the land, even if it that ownership represents only a very small percentage of the total land area to which the notices relate.
“Indeed, not to have done so would have deprived the Trust of any opportunity to appeal against the notice and access to the Courts should that be necessary.”
In 12 months, the enforcement notice requires the removal of the timber buildings and the appellants to reinstate the land to its former level and condition before the works to create the retaining wall and raised platforms took place.
The planning inspector says: “The raised platforms are incongruous in this otherwise largely natural environment and are visually jarring against the generally natural character of the eastern lakeshore.
“Consequently, the raised platforms are not sympathetic to the character and appearance of the area.
“I accept entirely that the raised platforms are not easily visible from public vantage points including, due to the distance involved, from the busy tourist facilities on the western lakeshore.
“However, they are clearly visible from Coniston Water itself, including to those taking part in boating activities of all descriptions (such as boats providing cruises on the lake for tourists), and in that context detract from the character and appearance of the area”, the inspector’s report adds.
The appeals were dismissed and the enforcement notices upheld on September 24.
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