banner

Home /

Legislative Powers - Conditions

Under the Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960, the Local Planning Authority (LPA) has powers relating to site licence conditions, including:

  • Section 5 of the Act allows LPAs to attach conditions to site licences deemed necessary or desirable in the interests of persons residing in caravans, other classes of persons, or the public at large. Section 5 also details the types of condition than can and cannot be imposed.
  •  If a licence holder fails to comply with a condition of site licence, Section 9 of the Act sets out that this is a criminal offence which the LPA may enforce against.
  • For protected sites, Section 9A allows the LPA to serve a compliance notice in relation to a breach of condition. An appeal may be made against any such compliance notice within 21 days from the date of service of the notice.

Model Conditions

LPAs must “have regard” to government-specified Model Conditions when deciding what conditions to attach to a site licence.

Currently, the relevant Model Conditions are:

  • For holiday caravan sites, the 1989 Model Standards
  • For protected sites, the 2008 Model Standards; and
  • For touring sites, the 1983 Model Standards.

Separation Distances

One of the Model Conditions across both holiday and protected sites relates to separation distances between units.

For protected sites, the Model Condition states:

“Except in the case of sub-paragraph (iii)…every caravan must where practicable be spaced at a distance of no less than 6 metres (the separation distance) from any other caravan which is occupied as a separate residence.”

Sub-paragraph (iii) goes on to provide an exception:

“Where a caravan has retrospectively been fitted with cladding from Class 1 fire rated materials to its facing walls, then the separation distance between it and an adjacent caravan may be reduced to a minimum of 5.25 metres.”

For holiday sites, the Model Condition states:

“Subject to the following variations, the minimum spacing between caravans made of aluminium or other materials with similar fire performance properties should be not less than 5 metres between units… For those which a plywood or similar skin it should not be less than 6 metres. Where there is a mixture of holiday caravans of aluminium and plywood, the separation distances should be 6 metres; and where there is a mixture of permanent residential homes and holiday caravans, the separation distance should again be 6 metres.”

For touring sites, the Model Condition states:
“Every unit should be not less than 6 metres from any other unit in separate family occupation and not less than 3 metres should be permitted between units in any circumstances.”

In Practice

Many LPAs will have the relevant condition attached to site licences in their area, or a similar version of the condition. The 2008 Model Standards’ Explanatory Notes explain that the 6 metre separation distance is required for two reasons:

  • Health and safety considerations; and
  • Privacy from neighbouring caravans.

The Notes go on to say that whilst there is an exception for those caravans fitted with class 1 fire rated materials, there is a need for the privacy of residents to be considered and health and safety matters, such as the positioning of gas bottles etc., will also need to be taken into account.

You should make sure you know what separation distances are stipulated in your site licence conditions and that you are complying with this across your site.

Tribunal Decisions – Practical Learning

Recent tribunal decisions on this issue have highlighted the following key points:

  • An important point from recent tribunal decisions is that it does not matter how small the shortfall for the spacing requirement is. If the separation distance required is 5.25m and the caravans in question are only 5.20m apart, it is no argument that the difference is so small as to make it irrelevant. Tribunals have found that “anything below that threshold must be a breach, even if marginal”.

Factors which the LPA must take into account when considering whether service of compliance notice is justified include:

  • Whether the additional distance to meet the threshold would provide any additional fire safety benefit. Assessment of this will be relevant as to whether the required remedial works are reasonable and proportionate;
  •  The LPA should ensure that it has taken informal action, prior to issuing a compliance notice, if possible. This includes communication with the site owner and negotiation (where possible). However, it was highlighted that fire safety is of grave importance and should not be trivialised. LPAs may exercise their enforcement powers with little or no informal action where there is a significant risk. This assessment should be a sliding scale;
  • How long the breach has been happening will be relevant as to the question of whether it is appropriate to take enforcement action; and
  • The interests of the home-owner and site-owner should also be considered and balanced against any increased risk due to the shortfall in separation distance.