Upminster mini golf course – Planning

Significant planning applications always arouse considerable interest for local residents and we note that the London Borough of Havering has made a planning application for the development of Hall Lane mini golf site in Upminster.

The application is actually by Mercury Land Holdings Limited which is a Housing Development Company wholly owned and controlled by Havering Council.

It has submitted a planning application to develop 48 homes on Upminster’s Miniature Golf Course in Hall Lane.

The loss of recreational space is always a major issue in urban environments. There are amenity and wild life considerations.

The legislative planning structure in place in England and Wales seeks to balance such issues against the government’s overriding objective to have more homes built. The target is 300,000 new homes by the mid 2020’s.

In 2017/2018, the number completed was 222,000. There is significant pressure on Councils to build more homes – they can be penalised by Central Government if they do not.

The grant of planning permission is to some extent political however, Local Planning Authorities (LPAs) have a strict process imposed on them by law as regards reaching decisions.

Those wishing to object to planning applications need to submit objections within the objection period, normally between 3 and 8 weeks.

Objectors should carefully analyse the LPAs own planning guidance which it must follow and objections should be tailored to take into account such guidance.

Very often, objections can be overcome by the developer developing sympathetically to take into account the objections and the LPA has power to impose conditions on any development dealing with such matters as highway safety, and noise and disturbance. Environmental and wildlife considerations can be significant in some areas.

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Independent planning experts can usefully be consulted when considering objections. Pinney Talfourd LLP does not specialise in planning matters, however, we do work with planning experts on procedural aspects and appeals.​

​This article is written by Stephen Eccles, partner in our Property Litigation Department, he is assisted by Lisa Eastwood (Senior Associate) and Oliver-James Topping (Solicitor). The contents of this article are for the purposes of general awareness only. They do not purport to constitute legal or professional advice. Specific legal advice should be taken on each individual matter. This article is based on the law as of April 2019.