Planning - court cases?

[shane790_0]

When a new park opens ( or opened in the past) it would have to have planning permission to open......what I want to know has there ever been any court cases when a park has taken its councel to court in order to get planning permission granted (i.e for a new ride)?

I only ask as parks such as the american adventure, Camelot ect have always found it hard to get planning for new rides, I find it strange how local councels give the park permission to open and then not let them build new rides/expand ect.

Its like a car show room opening and then not being able to sell newer cars after a few years! would it not brake some kind of traders act or somthing?

 

[Ian]

As with all property, there are planning restraints.

For example, if you were to do a barn conversion in Suffolk, then the exterior walls have to be clad in black wooden paneling. (I watched Grand Designs last night.)

Most councils will allow any ride to be built providing it satisfies their guidelines. They probably wouldn't stop a park installing a few small kiddie rides, but they may not be willing to approve a 200ft mega coaster. As a rather infamous example, Alton Towers are not allowed to build over the tree line and visible sections of track must blend in with the surroundings.

So in brief, a council will allow a park to open as it will help the local economy, but they must also serve the local residents by placing restrictions.

 

[shane790_0]

I fully understand your points (im a builder lol) And they make perfect sense

But surly if you open a theme park you must be able to build new rides, I fully understand the point of view of keeping the locals happy, wild animals ect. I was just chatting to a mate (who hates rollercoasters) and he said in his opinion it would breach some kind of trading law by stopping a park from buiding rides it wanted (I know its not that simple) I just wanted to know if any major park as challanged the council in court

 

[Ian]

Hmm, off the top of my head, I can't think of any parks that have challenged a refusal to build a ride. They (the parks) tend to tailor the rides around the planning constraints, or alter the design if planing is denied. I'm not sure if it would infringe on trading laws, as parks would be aware of the restrictions before obtaining their operating license.

Loosely connected, Paultons Park built two rides (Cobra and Edge) without the necessary planning permission and had to gain retrospective permission. Paultons won and the rides remained.
http://www.thisishampshire.net/news/453 ... ermission/ That's probably the closest I can think of.

 

[shane790_0]

thanks for the link :--D