The Society objected to this certificate of lawfulness for the mixed use of land and the rearing/keeping of game birds. We did so because the land was already agricultural land and, given that was the case, no planning breach was or is occurring.

Conversely game keeping for shooting is not classed as an agricultural activity. Consequently the applicant could only seek a certificate of lawfulness for the use of land for game bird rearing on the basis that they had been in continuous breach of the designated land use for at least 10 years.

However it was far from obvious that that was the case, because in both 2017 and 2018 at least part of the land was clearly being used for agriculture purposes. We provided Google Earth imagery from both 2017 and 2018 in support.

In her report the case officer 'noted that the South Hams Society have challenged the applicant’s statement on the basis that the aerial images on their own do not sufficiently demonstrate continuous use of the land as stated. Officers acknowledge these comments but would confirm that the range of other financial information provided with the application does confirm continuous use of the land as stated over the required ten year period. Due to its financial nature, this information was not publically available and therefore the South Hams Society were not able to take this into account when formulating their representation.

The Certificate of Lawfulness was issued.