ABSTRACT
One of the most important provisions of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (the 1990 Act) is section 57(1); it states ‘planning permission is required for the carrying out of any development of land’. The word development is the key to the scope of development control; it covers two activities: the carrying out of certain operations (considered in this chapter) and the making of a material change of use (see Chapter 3). There is an elaborate enforcement procedure where there has been a breach of development control (see Chapter 15). Planning permission for a use of land will not authorise the erection of buildings, as this entails the carrying out of operations (see Sunbury-on-Thames Urban District Council v Mann [1958] and Wivenhoe Port Ltd v Colchester Borough Council [1985]). Lord Denning MR explained the distinction between uses and operations in Camrose v Basingstoke Corporation [1966].
