The Senedd’s Development of Tourism and Regulation of Visitor Accommodation ( Wales) Bill has received Royal Assent. It (1) promotes the development of tourism, (2) regulates the provision of visitor accommodation , and (3) establishes a directory of visitor accommodation premises.
PLANNING
April 28th, 2026 by James Goudie KC in Planning and Environmental
The Senedd’s Planning ( Wales) Bill has received Royal Assent. It CONSOLIDATES certain enactments relating to planning. See also the Planning ( Consequential Provisions ) ( Wales ) Bill.
BUILDING SAFETY
April 28th, 2026 by James Goudie KC in HousingThe Building Safety ( Wales ) Bill has received Royal assent. It makes provision for the safety of people (1) in or about buildings containing 2 or more residential units and (2) in or about certain houses in multiple occupation.
WALES
April 28th, 2026 by James Goudie KC in Environment, Highways and LeisureThe Senedd’s Environment ( Principles, Governance and Biodiversity Targets ( ( Wales ) Bill has on 27 April 2026 received Royal Assent. Its provisions include Environmental Objectives and Principles ( Part 1 ), the establishment of the Office of Environmental Governance wales, with power to ensure compliance by public authorities with environmental law ( Part 2 ), and biodiversity targets ( Part 3 ).
CLEUD
April 24th, 2026 by James Goudie KC in Planning and EnvironmentalIn R ( Ocean One Hundred Ltd ) v New Forest National Park Authority (2026) EWCA Civ 492 the Court of Appeal is concerned with APPARENT BIAS and OFFICER REPORTS in in the context of a CERTIFICATE OF LAWFULNESS OF EXISTING USE OR DEVELOPMENT and its REVOCATION, pursuant to Sections 191-195 TCPA 1990, Article 24 of the TCP (GDO Procedure) Order 1995, Article 39 of the TCP (Development Management Procedure)(England) Order 2015, and common law requirements of PROCEDURAL FAIRNESS and other public law requirements, including as to giving reasons.
HOMELESSNESS
April 22nd, 2026 by James Goudie KC in HousingA House of Commons Committee Report published on 22 April 2026 warns that homeless households are still placed in poor and unsafe temporary accommodation. The Report makes various Recommendations.
THE LEGALITY PRINCIPLE : IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LAW/PRESCRIBED BY LAW
April 22nd, 2026 by James Goudie KC in Judicial Control, Liability and LitigationIn SHAUN THOMPSON v METROPOLITAN POLICE COMMISSIONER (2026) EWHC 915 ( Admin ) a Divisional Court reaffirms that a measure, such as a Policy, must have the “ quality of law “, that is be (1) accessible to the persons concerned, (2) foreseeable as to its consequences, and (3) compatible with the RULE OF LAW. As to foreseeability, the measure MUST NOT CONFER A DISCRETION SO BROAD that its scope is in practice dependent on the will of those who apply it, rather than on the law itself.. It must have sufficient clarity and foreseeability so as NOT to allow ARBITRARINESS, that is decision-making by a public authority on the basis of whim, caprice, malice or predilection. A challenge to the foreseeability of a measure, or its alleged arbitrariness, does NOT, however, a challenge to the PROPORTIONALITY of that measure or its application to a particular case.
JUDICIAL CONTROL, LIABILITY and LITIGATION
April 21st, 2026 by James Goudie KC in Judicial Control, Liability and LitigationIn ZHB v CARDIFF COUNCIL (2026) EWHC 913 ( Admin ) Coppel J (1) identifies at paras 17-40 the legal principles to be derived from relevant Strasbourg case law on age assessment processes and (2) holds that the Council was not under an obligation to have regard to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child when conducting an assessment.
DETERMINATION OF PLANNING APPLICATION
April 21st, 2026 by James Goudie KC in Planning and EnvironmentalThe purpose of section 70C of TCLA 1990 is to enable a LPA to decline to determine an application for planning permission in respect of a breach of planning control which had a pre-existing ENFORCEMENT NOTICE issued in respect of that breach. The Court of Appeal in R ( Moran ) v MEDWAY Council m( 2026 EWCA Civ 484 says that the following questions arise for consideration by a LPA contemplating the use of Section 70C : (1) whether there is such a Notice,and (2) if so, whether the applicant seeks permission for development which includes development identified as a breach of planning control in that Notice. If so then then the LPA has a DISCRETION whether to (i) decline to consider the application, or (ii) to accept it and determine it on its merits ( which does not however require a full appraisal of the planning merits).