Home-business row set for planning boss's ruling

A row over how long a business has been operating from a house in Powick has been escalated.

Business owner Caroline McKain wants a certificate of lawfulness to prove her business has been based in the garage of 3 Malvern Road for at least 10 years.

If it is granted, it would make her business immune from council enforcement action over planning policy infringements made when it first became a "home retail" facility.

Ms McKain's application was turned down by Malvern Hills District Council in June and now the case has gone to appeal, with the decision resting in the hands of the planning inspector.

Ms McKain said she moved to Powick in 2006 and already had a school uniform supply business, for which she immediately converted the garage for "storage and retail".

In 2010, she said she added an antiques and collectables business called "Vintage Forever", although this was never formally registered as a company.

Appeal documents show Ms McKain "further restyled the business to focus on more garden-themed items more recently, in 2020".

This was, she claimed in response to the Covid pandemic, which encouraged more outdoor and garden life.

Ms McKain said she regularly employs two other members of staff on a part-time basis.

The council, which does not consider the operation to be lawful, said it had spoken to neighbours and has seen "evidence that the garage and garden area of retail use has rapidly expanded since November 2021".

It said residents had told authority bosses about a loss of privacy because of an increase in traffic and visitors, with some locals installing security cameras.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.

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