Old aerial photographs help win legal case in Essex land use dispute

Coalville, Leicestershire, UK, 08 December 2011 – Aerial photography dating back to the 1990s has been used to secure the long term future of an Essex based nursery. Thurrock Council were claiming unauthorised uses on the greenbelt site close to Basildon and were considering enforcement action. However, using historic aerial photography, supplied by Bluesky from their OldAerialPhotos archive, and the service of a professional air photo interpreter, Greenwise Nurseries were able to prove the long term use of the majority of the site for mixed use industrial purposes.

The expert witness report and supporting aerial photographs were presented to Thurrock Council who promptly withdrew the case from court prior to the hearing and settled the matter in Greenwise’s favour.

“The aerial photographs and the professional report derived from their interpretation allowed us to refute claims by the Council of over use of the site for non nursery purposes such as storage of new, reclaimed and architectural salvaged building materials,” commented Mark Romero of Greenwise Nurseries. “We now have a 6 acre Brownfield site with lawful permission for retail sales, storage of building materials and other general retail items. This will allow us to develop our business and secure its long term future.”

Bluesky supplied the historic aerial photography complete with certificates of authentification from their OldAerialPhotos archive providing factual and unbiased evidence for further investigation by Air Photo Services, a company that offers specialist interpretation of aerial imagery, consultancy and expert witness services. Director Chris Cox commented, “Acting as an Expert Witness and working on behalf of my client, I was able to establish, using the historic images, that the majority of the site had, in fact, been used for nursery purposes over the last 13 years.”

“My work ascertained the exact proportions of different uses through accurate measurement across a definite time period and I was able to present this data in a timely and cost effective manner on behalf of Greenwise Nurseries,” she continued.

The imagery supplied by Bluesky forms part of historically important archive that includes some of the earliest commercial aerial survey images, military photography from World War II and many national archives. Offering a record of most major UK cities and towns, transport and utility infrastructure and commercial property developments, the images are an invaluable resource for anyone with a personal or professional interest in local studies, genealogy, boundary disputes, environmental land use research or town planning.

CONTACTS:

Website: www.oldaerialphotos.com

Bluesky Tel +44 (0)1530 518 518
Editorial enquiries, contact Robert Peel on tel. +44 (0)1666 823306
Colour separation requests – please fax only to +44 (0)1666 824 668

RSS: Client News