New planning units, new chapters in planning history and inconsistent permissions

The regulated use of land by stipulating that land may not be developed without planning permission, is said to be the purpose of planning control. On that note, statutory planning regime evidences an intention to protect existing use rights. Such is the case where there are powers to revoke or modify a planning permission, their execution must still be the subject of public notice by means of entry on the planning register or registration as a local land charge. However, for those rights that are lost or concepts which do not appear in the statutory planning regime, a closer examination is required. The courts have three concepts that tackle them, including the loss of use rights through abandonment, loss of use rights by virtue of having implemented a planning permission which is compatible with the claimed use right, and loss of uses rights resulting from the creation of a new planning unit or the opening of a new chapter in the planning history of the site.