A council is taking action on the owner of a field in the Vale of Glamorgan which has been used over the past six years to house trailers, caravans, cars and a boat. The Vale of Glamorgan Council's planning committee voted in favour of issuing the enforcement notice on a piece of land at 10, New Barn Holdings along St Athan Road in Flemingston.
As well as the various vehicles named above, the field has been used to house other miscellaneous items, including building materials, windows, containers, fence panels and posts. Chief among the council's concerns include the potential for land contamination and the visual impact on the countryside.
A report by the council states that the use of the land is "akin to an industrial site", adding that "the use and appearance of the site do not reflect the countryside setting of the site’s locality." On the risk of land contamination, the council report states that the vehicles stored on site likely contain an array of substances, such as petrol, diesel, oil, grease and washer fluid.
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It adds that exposure of certain components to the elements could also risk land contamination. The report states: "The nature of which the items are stored is therefore considered likely to result in an unacceptable impact on the natural environment from land contamination and the pollution of surface water."
As there is no planning history associated with the piece of land at Flemingston, the lawful use for it would be agriculture. The use of the land for storage started to intensify in 2016. However, as the use of the site for storage hadn't continued in excess of 10 years, the change of use had not become lawful through the passage of time.
A number of site visits took place between April and August 2021. After the final site visit on August 13, the council discovered that the site had not been cleared, as was requested by the authority, and owner was told that formal action would be taken. The enforcement notice will require the use of the land for storage to end and the removal of the containers, vehicles and other miscellaneous items.
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