Unenforcable planning condition ?

[LukeB123]

I would want to have the full picture on the planning history of both plots before I got into a fight with the planners.

Agreed - worth checking. If it is how the OP portrays, it's not reasonable to enforce and now due to the expiration of 10 years it is not lawful to enforce.

If a condition is not met, then the permission could be said to have not been fully enacted, and so the breach would not have a time limit.

It was either implemented, in which case the time (10 years) has expired. If it was not enacted, then it would not technically benefit from planning permission. In which case the development would have need to have been built for a period of 4 or more years (which is the case in the matter) and would be lawful through that route.

It is worth a double check on the conditions in case they had some specific wording (or associated timeframe). Hopefully it wont get that far, but if it should the condition shouldn't be enforceable on either counts.

 

[Misty15]

Thanks for your replies everyone. Very helpful.
I spoke to the planning dept and have now had a written response from them saying that the condition is completely unenforceable as they themselves gave planning permission for a bungalow to be built on what should have been the car parking spaces to our property !
They have advised me to put in a retrospective planning application for our gate and hopefully then all will be sorted

 

[Doggit]

So, they've finally realised they screwed up, and they will be accommodating as a consequence.