Mobile catering on private land: when permission is needed

Siting a mobile catering unit on private land needs planning permission once the use becomes a material change of use of that land, and the 28 day temporary use right in the General Permitted Development Order is narrower than most operators assume. Park a trailer on a farm gateway three days a week all year and you are well past it, because the right counts days of use in a calendar year rather than days per week. Street trading consent is a separate regime with its own application, and holding one says nothing about the other.

The practical test is permanence. A van that arrives, trades and leaves, on a site whose ordinary use continues around it, is easier to defend than a unit that stays put with a gas cage, a bin store and a serving area marked out on the ground.

Material change of use against the temporary right

Under section 55 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, development includes a material change in the use of land. Whether a catering pitch crosses that line depends on the frequency and duration of the use, its scale relative to the site, the physical works involved and the effect on the character of the land.

Part 4 of Schedule 2 to the General Permitted Development Order 2015 permits the temporary use of land for any purpose for not more than 28 days in total in any calendar year, with a lower limit for markets, together with the placing of moveable structures for that use. Part 4 has been amended several times, so check the current text before relying on a day count.

Three points catch people out. The 28 days are cumulative across the calendar year for the whole of the land, not per operator. The right does not apply if the land is a building or is within the curtilage of a building. And the right does not authorise physical works that amount to operational development.

How the day count works on a pitch

Count every day on which the catering use takes place, including set-up and trading days. Two days a week for six months is around 52 days, so it fails. Weekend trading at 28 events across a year fits, provided nothing else on the site has used part of the allowance.

Keep a log. Where enforcement follows, the burden of showing the use is within the right falls on the operator, and a diary with photographs is the evidence that settles it. Where the pattern will exceed the allowance, apply for permission rather than hoping the council counts differently.

A Lawful Development Certificate under section 191 or 192 of the 1990 Act is the only formal way to confirm that an existing or proposed use is lawful.

Structures, decking and seating

A unit on wheels that can be towed away is usually treated as a chattel rather than a building. Once it is levelled on blocks, connected to mains services, surrounded by decking or given a permanent canopy, the position shifts, and the courts look at size, degree of permanence and physical attachment to the land.

The additions that most often convert a pitch into operational development:

1. Decking, hardstanding or a laid surface for customers.
2. Fixed seating, pergolas, parasol bases set in concrete.
3. A bin or gas bottle enclosure built in blockwork or timber.
4. A connection to foul drainage or a wastewater tank set into the ground.
5. Lighting columns or a fixed sign.

Each is development in its own right, and together they make the change of use argument for the council rather than against it.

Street trading consent is a different regime

Street trading is controlled under Schedule 4 to the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982, where the council has adopted it. The definition of a street reaches beyond the carriageway, and land adjoining a street to which the public has access without payment can be caught, which is why a forecourt pitch can need street trading consent even though it is privately owned.

Councils run consent or licence streets with their own fees, hours and conditions, and a refusal there is not appealable to the Planning Inspectorate. Late night refreshment between 23:00 and 05:00 needs authorisation under the Licensing Act 2003, and food business registration with environmental health is a separate obligation again.

Check all four before signing anything with a landowner: planning, street trading, licensing and food registration.

Odour, litter, noise and highway safety

These are the grounds on which applications are refused. Odour from a fryer or a griddle on an open serving hatch cannot be ducted to height the way a restaurant flue can, so the assessment rests on separation distance from residential windows, prevailing wind and hours. Where a duct and filtration are proposed, a Ventilation and Extraction Statement setting out the filtration, the termination point and the maintenance regime is the document that answers the environmental health consultation.

Generator noise is straightforward to deal with and frequently ignored. Give the make, the sound power level and the operating hours, or propose a mains connection. Where dwellings are close, a short Noise Impact Assessment measured against the background sound level is proportionate.

Litter is dealt with by condition rather than refusal, provided you propose the condition yourself: bins on the pitch, a litter picking radius and a frequency.

Hours are worth thinking about commercially before the council thinks about them. A pitch that trades from 11:00 to 15:00 on a business park has almost no residential impact to assess. The same unit asking for 22:00 to 03:00 outside a town centre brings noise from customers, vehicle movements and the late night refreshment regime into play, and the officer will consult environmental health and the police licensing team. Ask for the hours the business needs and no more, since a condition is far harder to widen later than to set correctly now.

Highway safety is the one that kills applications on rural roads. Officers look at visibility splays at the access, the space for customers to park clear of the carriageway, turning within the site, and whether vehicles will stop on the verge. On or beside the strategic road network, National Highways is consulted and normally resists uses that encourage stopping and turning, so a trunk road lay-by is the hardest case there is. A short Transport Statement with a visibility drawing is usually enough for a small pitch.

What to apply for and how to describe it

Apply for change of use of land for the siting of a mobile catering unit, and write the description to match what you want conditioned: the number of units, the pitch location shown on a plan, the trading hours and the days. A vague description invites a condition tighter than the business needs.

Ask for a temporary permission where the site is sensitive or where the council is cautious. Two or three years gives the officer a way to say yes, and a record of trading without complaint is the evidence for the permanent application that follows.

Where a catering pitch is one part of a wider rural diversification, the cumulative effect is assessed together, as farm cafe and glamping together: cumulative effects explains. Councils look at the whole holding rather than at each element in isolation.

Enter your postcode on PlanScope to see which supporting documents a change of use application for a catering pitch is likely to need on your site.

This is general guidance, not legal advice; check the position with your local planning authority or a qualified professional before relying on it. PlanScope provides AI-assisted draft reports for planning applications. Reports should be reviewed before submission. We do not guarantee planning approval.