Category: planning

Court rules on power to decline to determine retrospective planning applications – Local Government Lawyer

Posted February 13th, 2015 in enforcement notices, local government, news, planning, retrospectivity by tracey

‘The High Court has issued a ruling that clarifies the scope of a local authority’s power to decline to determine a retrospective planning application when an enforcement notice is in place. The case of Wingrove v Stratford on Avon District Council [2015] EWHC 287 (Admin) was the first time the ambit of s. 70C of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 had been considered.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 12th February 2015

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Regina (Gra Acquisition Ltd) v Oxford City Council – WLR Daily

Posted February 11th, 2015 in building law, law reports, local government, planning by sally

Regina (Gra Acquisition Ltd) v Oxford City Council [2015] EWHC 76 (Admin); [2015] WLR (D) 47

‘There was no exhaustive or exclusive statutory rule to the effect that a single building and its curtilage, whatever their nature, scale or relationship to each other, could never be listed as a conservation area pursuant to section 69 of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990.’

WLR Daily, 22nd January 2015

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Sustainable Shetland (Appellant) v The Scottish Ministers and another (Respondents) (Scotland) – Supreme Court

Posted February 10th, 2015 in appeals, birds, energy, environmental protection, law reports, planning, Scotland, Supreme Court by sally

Sustainable Shetland (Appellant) v The Scottish Ministers and another (Respondents) (Scotland) [2015] UKSC 4 (YouTube)

Supreme Court, 9th February 2015

Source: www.youtube.com/user/UKSupremeCourt

High Court finds inspector was entitled to reject council’s claim for section 106 administration fee – OUT-LAW.com

Posted February 10th, 2015 in appeals, fees, local government, news, planning by sally

‘The High Court has dismissed a council’s challenge to a planning inspector’s decision not to allow it to impose a standardised fee for administering and monitoring planning obligations under a section 106 agreement.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 9th February 2015

Source: www.out-law.com

Tribunal tells council to disclose redactions from housing viability assessment – Local Government Lawyer

Posted February 6th, 2015 in disclosure, housing, local government, news, planning, tribunals by sally

‘The First-tier Tribunal has ordered a London council to disclose redacted information in a viability assessment that led to the authority allowing a developer to vary the amount of affordable housing on a major site.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 6th February 2015

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

English pubs deemed important to communities to be protected by law – The Guardian

Posted January 27th, 2015 in licensed premises, news, planning, public interest, regulations by sally

‘Pubs in England listed as important by communities will not be demolished or have their use changed without planning permission under proposed legislation.’

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The Guardian, 26th January 2015

Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Eric Pickles ‘breached’ Green Belt Gypsies’ human rights – BBC News

Posted January 22nd, 2015 in equality, human rights, news, planning, travellers by sally

‘Communities Secretary Eric Pickles “unlawfully discriminated” against Romany Gypsies wanting pitches in the Green Belt, the High Court has ruled.’

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BBC News, 21st January 2015

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

High Court judge rejects challenge to Essex local plan document – OUT-LAW.com

Posted January 14th, 2015 in consultations, EC law, local government, news, planning by tracey

‘A High Court judge has rejected a challenge to the adoption of a planning document which seeks to direct the location of development in a district of south Essex.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 13th January 2015

Source: www.out-law.com

Gypsies and Travellers: “A litmus test not of democracy but of civil society” – No. 5 Chambers

Posted January 6th, 2015 in equality, housing, human rights, news, planning, race discrimination, travellers by sally

‘“[T]here is force in the observation attributed to Václav Havel, no doubt informed by the dire experience of central Europe: “The Gipsies are a litmus test not of democracy but of civil society”.” So said Lord Bingham of Cornhill in the House of Lords in South Buckinghamshire DC v Porter (No 1).’

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No. 5 Chambers, 18th December 2014

Source: www.no5.com

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10 – NearlyLegal

Posted January 5th, 2015 in appeals, consultations, judicial review, landlord & tenant, licensing, local government, news, planning, Supreme Court by sally

‘This was a judicial review of LB Enfield’s plans for borough wide additional HMO licensing and selective licensing of all PRS properties. It did not go well for Enfield, who appear to have not quite grasped the consultation requirements.’

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NearlyLegal, 3rd January 2014

Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk

Regina (Larkfleet Homes Ltd) v Rutland County Council – WLR Daily

Posted December 18th, 2014 in law reports, local government, planning by sally

Regina (Larkfleet Homes Ltd) v Rutland County Council [2014] EWHC 4095 (Admin); [2014] WLR (D) 534

‘Section 17(7)(za) of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 and regulation 5 of the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012 did not prevent the allocation of precise sites for particular development in a neighbourhood development plan.’

WLR Daily, 8th December 2014

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Regina (HS2 Action Alliance Ltd and another) v Secretary of State for Transport and another – WLR Daily

Posted December 12th, 2014 in EC law, environmental protection, law reports, ministers' powers and duties, planning, railways by sally

Regina (HS2 Action Alliance Ltd and another) v Secretary of State for Transport and another [2014] EWCA Civ 1578; [2014] WLR (D) 526

‘The “safeguarding directions” issued by the Secretary of State for Transport, exercising statutory powers, for phase 1 of the proposed high speed rail network (“HS2”) linking London to Manchester did not fall within the scope of plans and programmes which set the framework for future development consent of projects within the meaning of articles 2(a) and 3(2) of Parliament and Council Directive 2001/42/EC on the assessment of the effects of certain plans and programmes on the environment.’

WLR Daily, 9th December 2014

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

HS2 campaigners lose Court of Appeal challenge – BBC News

Posted December 9th, 2014 in appeals, news, planning, railways by sally

‘Campaigners have lost their latest legal challenge to the first phase of the proposed HS2 high-speed rail line.’

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BBC News, 9th December 2014

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Rights to light – making the law more transparent – Law Commission

Posted December 4th, 2014 in human rights, Law Commission, news, planning, reports by sally

‘In a report published today, the Law Commission is recommending reforms to the law governing rights to light that will strike a balance between the interests of landowners and the law’s recognition of the need for appropriate development.’

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Law Commission, 4th December 2014

Source: www.lawcommission.justice.gov.uk

Regina (Joicey) v Northumberland County Council – WLR Daily

Posted December 2nd, 2014 in disclosure, documents, energy, law reports, local government, noise, planning by sally

Regina (Joicey) v Northumberland County Council [2014] EWHC 3657 (Admin); [2014] WLR (D) 506

‘As in failure to take account of relevant material consideration cases, so also in a case involving a breach of statutory duty to disclose information, relief would be granted unless the decision-maker could demonstrate that the decision in question would inevitably have been the same had the decision-maker acted as he was required to do.’

WLR Daily, 7th November 2014

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Why domestic Aarhus rules are not wide enough to comply with the Convention – UK Human Rights Blog

Posted December 2nd, 2014 in appeals, costs, EC law, environmental protection, human rights, judicial review, news, planning, treaties by sally

‘Back to Aarhus and the constant problem we have in the UK making sure that the cost of planning and environmental litigation is not prohibitively expensive.’

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UK Human Rights Blog, 1st December 2014

Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com

High Court judge rejects challenge to 400-home planning consent, despite planning officer’s mistaken advice – OUT-LAW.com

Posted November 27th, 2014 in judicial review, local government, news, planning, reports by sally

‘A High Court judge has refused to quash a decision to grant planning consent for 400 homes within the Surrey countryside, after deciding that a council was not misled by a planning officer’s mistaken advice.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 26th November 2014

Source: www.out-law.com

Public access to local authority information: transparency with teeth – Panopticon

Posted November 21st, 2014 in documents, freedom of information, local government, news, planning by tracey

‘The Freedom of Information Act and Environmental Information Regulations are the dominant statutory regimes for public transparency, but they are of course not the only ones. A good example is the regime under the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended), particularly sections 100A-K. Those provisions govern public access to local authority meetings, as well as the public availability of minutes, reports, background documents and so on for such meetings, subject to provisions for exempt information (Schedule 12A). A recent judgment of the Admin Court (Cranston J) in a planning matter, Joicey v Northumberland County Council [2014] EWHC 3657 (Admin) illustrates the importance of compliance with that regime for public access to information.’

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Panopticon, 20th November 2014

Source: www.panopticonblog.com

High Court judge dismisses challenge to Ealing shopping centre planning permission – OUT-LAW.com

Posted November 20th, 2014 in appeals, local government, news, planning, substitution by tracey

‘A High Court judge has dismissed a challenge to Ealing Council’s approval of plans to redevelop the Oaks Shopping Centre in west London, after disagreeing with claims that the substitution of a councillor on the Council’s planning committee was unlawful.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 19th November 2014

Source: www.out-law.com

Private Law Remedies in Environmental Law – Mouse or Lion? – Thirty Nine Essex Street

Posted November 18th, 2014 in environmental protection, human rights, news, nuisance, planning, pollution by sally

‘With statutory regulation covering an ever increasing area in Environmental Law, the question arises as to whether private law remedies have a meaningful role to play in that arena?’

Full story (PDF)

Thirty Nine Essex Street, September 2014

Source: www.39essex.com