A company that brought in nine shipping containers for use on a small business park in Cambridgeshire has applied for retrospective planning permission to keep them.
K T McPartlin who owns The Barracks in Ramsey Road, Farcet Fen, near Peterborough also wants Huntingdonshire District Council to agree to retrospective consent for a new industrial unit.
The planning application to regularise the business park has been submitted on his behalf by planning consultants The Pegasus Group.
They have told the district council that the 1.55-acre site is used for both storage and light industrial uses.
It has 23 units, which are accommodated across 3no industrial buildings and 11no shipping containers.
Two of the industrial buildings and one shipping container have been on site for more than 10 years, and are not subject to this retrospective application, says The Pegasus Group.
“Hard standing covers the majority of the site. Access is provided via Ramsey Road /Milk and Water Drove, which runs between Peterborough to the north west and Pondersbridge to the south east.
“The site is located within Flood Zone 3. However, there are no other environmental designations associated.”
A planning statement by Pegasus says: “The use of shipping containers within the site for medium-term storage allows for flexibility whilst maximising the useful floorspace available within the site boundary.
“The site benefits from established vegetative screening around its external boundaries, which helps to shields the internal development of the site from the surrounding countryside.
“The applicant has also painted the new building in a dark green to further assimilate it into distant views across the adjacent agricultural land.”
Pegasus says the site, in policy terms, is located within the open countryside and beyond any designated employment area.
“Nevertheless, the replacement building, and 9 recently cited storage containers are located on an established employment site,” it adds.
“This planning statement has considered the key principles of the development against material considerations set out within national and local planning policies and guidance.
“The site offers an opportunity to retain and control much-needed affordable and flexible small business floorspace.
“The site has previously been used as agricultural storage and is in relative proximity to major population centres of the region.
“The established and past use of the site means that its present use does not encroach into land that was previously open countryside.”
Pegasus says the replacement building to the rear of the site sits on a similar footprint to the previous building which had fallen into disrepair.
“The uses proposed are not disruptive to the rural location and do not impede upon others’ enjoyment of the countryside,” it says.
“Overall, the development meets the objectives of the Local Plan, and delivers benefits for the district as a whole.
“These include: • Retention of affordable small business units, helping to meet local need; making efficient use of a former agricultural yard by replacing the dilapidated buildings which previously stood on site and facilitating the growth of local business.
“The submission of this application also allows the council to control the future development of the site and its present use through planning conditions.
“The development has been demonstrated to be in accordance with relevant local and national planning policies and should be approved without delay.”
The council has yet to rule on the application.
One objector has told them: “The Barracks has attracted many undesirable members of the public.
“The barn in question was constructed from scrap metal. The structure lacks wind bracing and presents a danger to the public. The yard has generated considerable traffic and incidents have occurred at the bend in a very busy road.
“The yard has inadequate temporary fencing and the litter generated therein is not contained. The litter has also attracted rats and other vermin.
“I am constantly pestered by the delivery of poorly addressed packages intended for tenants of the Barracks. The Barracks, once merely a blot on the landscape, is now a danger to the public.”
