- Decision
- dismissed, 21 August 2026
- Decided by
- Planning Inspector: Richard Snow
- Authority
- Leicester (East Midlands)
- Appeal reference
- 6010430
- Application reference
- 20251872
- Procedure
- written representations
- Development
- Change of use of B2 factory to car repair workshop and MOT centre (sui generis) (retrospective)
- Site context
- inside settlement
- Green Belt
- No
- Framework applied
- August 2026 NPPF
- Determinative policies
- TR6(4)
- Development plan policies
- Leicester Local Plan 2020-2036 (adopted 9 June 2026) T07
- Main issues
- highway safety
Summary
Retrospective change of use of a factory to an MOT and repair garage on a narrow residential-commercial street. Dismissed for "significant harm to highway safety through the parking and manoeuvring of cars on the public highway" (DL ¶21). The only Framework input was the conditions tests, which a vehicle management plan could not meet (DL ¶16). The parties were not consulted on the new Framework as the changes were "not material" (DL ¶5).
What made the difference
The Inspector saw on site that the operation could not fit within the building. The proposed management condition depended on third-party land and customer behaviour outside the appellant's control (DL ¶¶10, 16–17).
Policy findings
Policy codes are those of the National Planning Policy Framework (August 2026) unless a development plan is named.
| Policy | Finding | Weight | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| TR6(4) | fail | significant | 4 spaces for repair, storage, collection and 5 staff; cars displaced onto narrow street with no turning head; decided under plan T07 (DL 13-21) |
| DM6 | fail | vehicle management plan condition unenforceable and outside appellant's control — "would not meet the tests of the new Framework" (DL 16) | |
| E1 | benefit | local service, jobs, reuse of vacant floorspace — do not overcome harm (DL 20) |
Key facts
- At the site visit 6+ cars were inside, more in the sports-ground car park, and cars were parked temporarily on street
- Parking on sports club land was a rolling one-month informal arrangement, given little weight
Sources
This note is one of the decisions behind the NPPF 2026 Navigator, which shows how each Framework test has been applied across all the decisions in the database. Also available as Markdown.