Our client operates a busy vehicle dismantling yard in West London. For nearly forty years, the site has received end-of-life vehicles from numerous London Boroughs. Regulation of the motor salvage industry has led many operators to seek specialist planning and licensing advice.

Role of Robert Long Consultancy Limited

Moves in recent years to properly regulate vehicle dismantlers and metal recyclers have seen operators across the country apply for waste management (metal recycling) licences, under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, from the Environment Agency.

Robert Long Consultancy Limited was instructed to submit the licence application on behalf of the operator. Preliminary investigations indicated that the site’s planning status did not meet the Environment Agency’s requirements, resulting in the acquisition of a Certificate of Lawful Use for the yard. Historical research and aerial photographic evidence demonstrated the lawfulness of the operation.

A licence application was then made, including the production of a working plan, accompanied by improvements to the site’s infrastructure, drainage and procedures, in line with the new, stricter requirements of the Environment Agency and the EC Directive on End-Of-Life Vehicles.