Restraining persons unknown from breach of planning law

South Cambridgeshire District Council v Persons Unknown CA TLR 11 November

An injunction can be granted to restrain persons unknown from perpetrating identified breaches of planning control at an identified site. The land in question was adjacent to a gypsy caravan site. A number of planning permissions had been granted to travellers on parts of the Smithy Fen land but the council had resisted attempts to in-fill the land between those authorised areas. There had been some difficulty in times gone by against obtaining relief against persons unknown, but over the years that problem had been remedied either by statute or by rule. The Court ordered that service of the claim form and the injunction be effected by placing copies in clear plastic envelopes and nailing them to stakes or gateposts, or other prominent locations, on the site. Once a week the council should ensure that the notice was still there. The notice should inform the defendants that they could obtain copies of the application notice, and the accompanying witness statement and exhibits, by applying to the council’s planning offices during working hours.