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A decision made (13- -4.06) to remove the corpus fundi condition on Les Peupliers, St. Saviour.

Subject:	Les Peupliers, St Saviour
Decision Reference:	MD-PE-2006-0163	Exempt clause(s):		n/a
Type of Report (oral or written):	Written	Person Giving Report (if oral):		n/a
Telephone or e-mail Meeting?	n/a	Report File ref:		P/1973/0001
Written Report Title:	Removal of Corpus Fundi Condition at Les Peupliers, St Saviour	Written report – Author:		Richard Glover
Decision(s Agreed to remove the corpus fundi condition.
Reason(s) for decision: The property had a history of variations of conditions stretching back into the early 1980s. Added to this the structure of the condition was no longer considered to be reasonable in regard to the function of the attached holding
Action required: Inform applicant
Signature: (Minister)			Date of Decision: 13 April 2006

Les Peupliers, St. Saviour - removal of corpus fundi condition

Application Number: P/1973/0001

Request for Reconsideration Report

Site Address	Les Peupliers (Formerly Field 85), La Rue de la Guilleaumerie, St. Saviour.

Requested by	Mr. M Stein MSPlanning	Agent	MSPlanning

Description	Construction of a bungalow. REQUEST FOR RECONSIDERATION of condition No. 3 (corpus fundi) of original permit.

Type	Planning

Original Decision	PENDING

Determined by	Planning Committee

Date	8 May 1973

Zones	Countryside Zone

Policies	C6

Recommendation

To allow removal of the corpus fundi condition

Comments on Case	The Island Plan does not directly address proposals to remove restrictive conditions on properties granted permission in connection with agriculture. In this case what has to be considered is whether retention of the condition is reasonable and appropriate in the context of the building, its history and current circumstances. A corpus fundi condition ties a particular development to a piece of land in this case a field and glass houses adjoining the dwelling. The reason for the imposition of the condition was that central to the original application for the dwelling – by the current applicant - was that it was required in connection with the agricultural operations at the field and glasshouses. This reasoning was accepted by the Planning Committee but on the proviso that a corpus fundi condition retained the link between the glasshouses and the dwelling. The condition however did not require the occupant of the dwelling to be employed or work the land to which it was attached only that they could not be sold separately. In 1983 the Planning Committee allowed a temporary relaxation of the condition to allow the owner/applicant to let the property to generate income to subsidise his ongoing agricultural operations in the glasshouses. He moved into a converted building on the holding that was restricted to occupation by an agricultural worker. This relaxation was repeated a number of times, the last instance being in 1985 which relaxed the condition until May 1988. It could be argued that this relaxation was actually not in the control of the Committee at that time as the condition only required that the site could not be split up to be sold. As well as the converted building occupied by the owner/applicant of the site a further property was converted on the holding and an agricultural workers restriction attached to that dwelling. This brought to 3 the number of properties on this relatively limited holding tied to agriculture and/or the field and glasshouses on the site. In the meantime a significant portion of the glasshouses was granted permission for non-agricultural usage (dry storage) and the owner/applicant diversified his operations with a modest kennelling business. The owner/applicant now wishes to relieve the original dwelling on the site of the restrictive corpus fundi condition severing the link between the field and glasshouses and the dwelling. When all these circumstances are taken together – in particular the fact that the condition cannot control who lives in the dwelling merely that it cannot be sold without the field and glasshouses and the huge restructuring of the agricultural industry since the original permission in 1973 – it would be unreasonable to insist the condition tying the dwelling to the glasshouses and a particular modest field is retained.

Recommendation	To remove the corpus fundi condition from the property.

Reasons	Circumstances in connection with both the land holding and the agricultural industry have changed so much since the original grant of planning permission that to insist the condition is retained would be unreasonable.

Background Papers	1:2500 Site Plan Planning Permit 4/2/5977.D Letter requesting reconsideration of the condition


Endorsed by		Date