Council slammed for "gross error" on planning permission at World Heritage site
A district council was guilty of maladministration for failing to spot a gross error in plans for a replacement beach chalet at a UNESCO World Heritage site, the Local Government Ombudsman has found.
Dr Jane Martin said there was “a justifiable sense of public outrage” at the new building now permitted in an area of special amenity value.
The LGO launched an investigation after a complaint from two residents that West Dorset District Council had erroneously granted planning permission for a wooden chalet on the sea front at West Bexington.
The owner purchased and then demolished a beach hut that formed part of a regularly spaced row of 14 built in the 1930s on the Heritage Coast. The location is – in addition to enjoying UNESCO status – a designated area of outstanding natural beauty.
The council validated an application for planning consent for a replacement bungalow, but this was based on information provided by the applicant – relating to the size of the original chalet – that was inaccurate.
The true facts about the comparative size of the development did not come to light until work was well underway, the LGO found.
The complainants argued that the replacement was not in keeping with its surroundings – as it clearly stood out from the rest of the row of huts – and was detrimental to the AONB.
When West Dorset District considered its enforcement options in 2008, the authority decided it did not have sufficient evidence of intent to mislead on the part of the applicant to support action on that premise. The council also concluded that the making of a discontinuance order woudl have been disproportionate to the harm caused by the development.
The LGO acknowledged that the Supreme Court case of Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government and another v Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council [2011] UKSC 15 was not before the courts at the time.
However, Dr Martin said: “The principle established by that case should inform scrutiny of past decisions and if the council were now to review the planning permission in light of that judgment it is possible it would reach a different view as to the status of the permission granted and its options in respect of enforcement.”
The LGO accepted that routine checking of the documentation submitted for every planning application would hinder the speed and efficiency of the planning process.
But she added that the council should spot gross error. West Dorset accepted that given the sensitive nature of the site, its officers should have been extra vigilant and should not have taken the drawings submitted by the applicant at face value.
Dr Martin concluded that West Dorset’s failure to recognise the true extent of the proposed development at the planning stage had resulted in a building “which is incongruous in its setting on the Heritage Coastline and within the designated area of outstanding natural beauty”.
She added: “Given the particular considerations which apply to development in such designated areas, the council’s failure on this occasion amounts to maladministration.”
West Dorset has now agreed to:
- provide a formal written apology for the errors made and to give an explanation of the steps it has taken to avoid a repeat of these errors, to all those who directly complained and to the parish council
- make a public statement, and
- reserve £3,000 towards countryside projects in the West Bexington area of the AONB, with suitable projects to be agreed with the parish council.
Philip Hoult
