The High Court gives guidance on the use of notices under section 215 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990

Section 215 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 – which is headed “Power to require proper maintenance of land” – enables a local planning authority (“LPA”), if it appears to it that the amenity of a part of its area, or of an adjoining area, is adversely affected by the condition of land in its area, to serve on the owner and occupier of that land a notice requiring specified steps for remedying the condition of the land to be taken within a stated period. However, section 217 of the Act gives the recipient of the notice a right of appeal to the magistrates’ court on a number of grounds against such a notice. Section 218 then provides for a further appeal to the Crown Court, in favour of both the recipient of the notice and the LPA, against the decision of the magistrates’ court. In Berg v Salford City Council [2013] EWHC 2599 (Admin) there was an unsuccessful appeal to the High Court, by way of case stated from the Crown Court, in relation to a section 215 notice served by the respondent on the appellant. The High Court made the following rulings: (1) Despite the heading to section 215, a notice served pursuant to that section may be used to effect improvements to the land that go beyond “maintenance” in the literal sense. The terms of the statute do not require consideration of whether the step in question amounts to “maintenance” or “improvement”, though in any event the latter may result from the former. (2) The statute provides no definition of “amenity”, but the Best Practice Guidance issued by the ODPM in 2005 provides the most appropriate interpretation of the term. (3) For a notice under section 215 to be lawfully issued, it is sufficient for visual disamenity alone to be established. The condition of the land need not actually interfere with the amenity of others. (4) The relevant date for considering whether the LPA had been correct in its decision to issue a section 215 notice is the date of service of the notice. The proper time for consideration of the appropriateness of the steps required by the notice to be taken is the date on which the magistrates’ court delivers its judgment, or the date on which the Crown Court delivers its judgment, if there is a further appeal. John Martin