28 day rule under threat. URGENT!

[Tco]

Current leglislation allows almost any piece of land to be used for non specified events on up to 28 days per year. There are proposal afoot to restrict this rule. If this is the case it will have an enormous effect of many leisure activities on millions of people. The ability to use a piece of land for (say) caravan rallies, motor sport or gymkhana events on no more than 28 days in any one year is vital for the continuance of the many of these activities. They are generally non controversial and accepted by the neighbours. Similarly many grass air-strips are operated under the same conditions. To restrict this legislation would put many out of business. They are extremely important to the general aviation activities of many private pilots and their families.

The MSA spotted this in relation to Motorsport and have issued a press release,
http://www.msauk.org/site/cms/newsarticle.asp?chapter=210&nid=1438

The proposals are buried deep within a "Change of Use" paper on planning law. The government document is here (the bottom of page 10 & 11 are the relevant bits I think):
http://www.msauk.org/uploadedfiles/changeofuse.pdf

You can send your views to the panel here:
UCOReview@communities.gsi.gov.uk.

It is vital that anyone who has an interest in occasional activites who operate under the current rule make their views known to the panel. Please circulate this to any organisations that may make use of the 28 day rule.

I am not a lawyer, and the above is my assessment of the proposals, I may have got it wrong, but if not many activites will be affected.

Tco

 

[Deleted member 967]

Current leglislation allows almost any piece of land to be used for non specified events on up to 28 days per year. There are proposal afoot to restrict this rule. If this is the case it will have an enormous effect of many leisure activities on millions of people. The ability to use a piece of land for (say) caravan rallies, motor sport or gymkhana events on no more than 28 days in any one year is vital for the continuance of the many of these activities. They are generally non controversial and accepted by the neighbours. Similarly many grass air-strips are operated under the same conditions. To restrict this legislation would put many out of business. They are extremely important to the general aviation activities of many private pilots and their families.

The MSA spotted this in relation to Motorsport and have issued a press release,
http://www.msauk.org/site/cms/newsarticle.asp?chapter=210&nid=1438

The proposals are buried deep within a "Change of Use" paper on planning law. The government document is here (the bottom of page 10 & 11 are the relevant bits I think):
http://www.msauk.org/uploadedfiles/changeofuse.pdf

You can send your views to the panel here:
UCOReview@communities.gsi.gov.uk.

It is vital that anyone who has an interest in occasional activites who operate under the current rule make their views known to the panel. Please circulate this to any organisations that may make use of the 28 day rule.

I am not a lawyer, and the above is my assessment of the proposals, I may have got it wrong, but if not many activites will be affected.

Tco

Exactly which 28 day rule are you refering to?

The one in the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960 only allows 1 van (or up to 3 if over 5 acres) for human habitation on land that does not have Planning Permission or a Site Licence. Each period to last no more than two nights. The maximum number of night that this can happen without a site licence or Planning permission is 28 in a year.

This makes no difference to Rallies under paragraph 4 which are limited to 28 days by agreement, or to Rallies under paragraph 6 which are restricted to 5 days by the Act. In both cases there is no limit in the Act on numbers using the site or how often rallies can take place. However for paragraph 6 rallies only, those attending must be members of the organising club.

Events organised by an exempted organisation can take place without the need for formal planning consent. In the case of paragraph 4 rallies the organisers are expected to consult the local planners, they do not need planning permission though.

These are organised under Part 4 (class A) of the Town and Country (General Permitted Development) order 1995 This is not mentioned in the paper.


Tent camping requires a site licence and Planning permission if it exceeds 28 days in a year. This is organised under Part 4 (Class B) of the Town and Country(General Permitted Development) order 1995 which is mentioned in the paper

Exempted clubs may use a site for 42 days continuously or 60 maximum in a year without Planning Permission or a site Licence.

There are over 400 exempted organisations (clubs) in the UK.

By the tone of the paper it would seem they are looking at the Part B permitted developments again as they did 10 years ago. That resulted in no changes. Why should this time be any different.

 

[John H]

The proposals are buried deep within a "Change of Use" paper on planning law. The government document is here (the bottom of page 10 & 11 are the relevant bits I think):
http://www.msauk.org/uploadedfiles/changeofuse.pdf

My advice is - don't panic! In addition to the excellent summary given above by John, I would add that these are not "proposals" as you suggest but are questions included in an Issues Paper. Such reviews happen every ten years and are nothing unusual. Even if changes are eventually proposed under question 8 in this Issues Paper, I cannot see that it will affect rallies etc because, as John says, these are covered under different legislation. Rest easy in your bed!

 

[Tco]

One of the first Motorhome meets we went to was an informal gathering organised by a member of a forum (not this one). It was held on a field upon which the owners said there was a 28 day rule. They were not allowed to use the field for more than that number of days for caravan rallies in any one year. They must have run pretty close to the limit because when a couple of our number wanted to stay an extra day or two, we were told that normally there would not have been a problem, but they had three more rallies planned for the year, (this was in June) and they couldn't run the risk of running over their 28 day limit. Perhaps if ours had been at the end of the season and they had any days in hand, the answer would have been different.

We were not part of any club, just members of a MH forum, the organiser made an informal arrangement with owner of the land.

I don't imagine that our meet was anything unusual and fear that the very informality of the occasion whch appealed to us could be lost. If you have better knowledge than I on the matter, I defer to you and thank you for your reply.

 

[Julie]

Exactly which 28 day rule are you refering to?

The one in the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960 only allows 1 van (or up to 3 if over 5 acres) for human habitation on land that does not have Planning Permission or a Site Licence. Each period to last no more than two nights. The maximum number of night that this can happen without a site licence or Planning permission is 28 in a year.

This makes no difference to Rallies under paragraph 4 which are limited to 28 days by agreement, or to Rallies under paragraph 6 which are restricted to 5 days by the Act. In both cases there is no limit in the Act on numbers using the site or how often rallies can take place. However for paragraph 6 rallies only, those attending must be members of the organising club.

Events organised by an exempted organisation can take place without the need for formal planning consent. In the case of paragraph 4 rallies the organisers are expected to consult the local planners, they do not need planning permission though.

These are organised under Part 4 (class A) of the Town and Country (General Permitted Development) order 1995 This is not mentioned in the paper.


Tent camping requires a site licence and Planning permission if it exceeds 28 days in a year. This is organised under Part 4 (Class B) of the Town and Country(General Permitted Development) order 1995 which is mentioned in the paper

Exempted clubs may use a site for 42 days continuously or 60 maximum in a year without Planning Permission or a site Licence.

There are over 400 exempted organisations (clubs) in the UK.

By the tone of the paper it would seem they are looking at the Part B permitted developments again as they did 10 years ago. That resulted in no changes. Why should this time be any different.

The 28 day rule the OP refers to isn't specific to camping and caravaning.
There is a rule that allows any landowner (e.g. farmers) to use their land for any purpose e.g car boot sales, motorbike scrambling, paintballing etc. For upto 28 dys a year without needing planning permission.
Jules

 

[Tco]

Thanks Jules.

Ahem! from the original post:

The ability to use a piece of land for (say) caravan rallies, motor sport or gymkhana events on no more than 28 days in any one year is vital for the continuance of the many of these activities. They are generally non controversial and accepted by the neighbours. Similarly many grass air-strips are operated under the same conditions.

I was merely giving a heads up to a possible problem for situations such as the instance in my post #4 above. I know that many General Aviation enthusiasts are worried about it.

 

[Deleted member 967]

Ahem! from the original post:


I was merely giving a heads up to a possible problem for situations such as the instance in my post #4 above. I know that many General Aviation enthusiasts are worried about it.

No problems Tco.

I know of many problems where groups and landowners have gone ahead and used events like this without considering the implications or held events repeatedly. Many authorities are lax and will only take action if a problem is brought to their notice. Others are "red hot" and will come down on anything they have not given specific permission for. Even exempted organisations wishing to hold rallies lasting up to 28 days are expected to consult the planners before going ahead.

There are many diverse groups that hold exemptions under the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960 http://www.naturalengland.org.uk/Images/caravan-exempts_tcm6-10046.pdf

 

[Vivo]

A:juggle:lthough it seems of only a minor issue, its yet another drip, drip of administration, state control and loss of personal & ancient freedoms.
The 2nd rise of the Roman Empire.... next step has to be Ceasar (dictator).
Best nip all these 'slowly, slowly' eroding of freedoms in the bud!

 

[Deleted member 967]

A:juggle:lthough it seems of only a minor issue, its yet another drip, drip of administration, state control and loss of personal & ancient freedoms.
The 2nd rise of the Roman Empire.... next step has to be Ceasar (dictator).
Best nip all these 'slowly, slowly' eroding of freedoms in the bud!

The 1947 Planning Act did not include these relaxations. They were put in place to ease the burden on the system by having to deal with minor repetitive applications. Why should they remove these at a time when they are trying to cut cost by reducing administration.