Regulation 12(5)(a) of the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 is a qualified exception from disclosure requirements on the ground of adverse effect upon public safety. In Natural England v Information Commissioner, EA/2017/0160, with respect to culling of badgers, the FTT, on 24 January 2018, stated:-

“66.    Natural England’s case as to the law was largely accepted by the other parties.  We also accept that: the term “public safety” in the EIRs should be read as importing the concept of “public security” referred to in the Aarhus Convention and the Directive.  We accept that, in principle, harm or an increased risk of harm to one person or their property could engage the exception and that there is no additional requirement for there to be widespread disorder and chaos.  We find, however, that the placement of “public safety” in a composite exception in the EIRs which also includes international relations, defence and national security must also be accorded some significance. Read more »

Did the DoS for CLJ err in law in granting planning permission for exploration works to test the feasibility of extracting shale gas by the process of hydraulic fracturing – commonly known as “fracking” – at two sites in Lancashire? That was the basic question in Frackman v SoS for CLJ (2018) EWCA Civ 9.

The Court of Appeal said that the case did not raise any novel or controversial point of law. Nor had there been any error of law.  A reference to the CJEU was refused.  The SoS had not misconstrued or misapplied Policy.  Nor were his decisions vitiated by procedural unfairness.  Also dismissed, distinguishing Application by Friends of the Earth for Judicial Review (2017) NICA 41, were complaints that he had failed to heed relevant EU principles, that he had failed to act in accordance with environmental impact principles, and that he had failed to apply “the precautionary principle”. Read more »

In Dover District Council v CPRE Kent [2017] UKSC 79 the Supreme Court reviewed various statutory rules relating to the provision of reasons for planning decisions, observing that these rules are to be found in subordinate legislation and that it is hard to detect a coherent approach to their development. The three main categories of planning decision are: (i) decisions of Secretaries of State and inspectors, (ii) decisions by local planning authorities in connection with planning permission, and (iii) decisions, at any level, on applications for EIA development. Read more »

CLG is consulting on draft Local Authority Oversight Regulations under the New Towns Act 1981 which would enable in England the creation, via a strong evidence basis and further Statutory Instruments, of locally led New Town Development Corporations, where local areas consider that they will be an effective vehicle for new garden towns and cities. The consultation period is only 4 weeks, from 4 December 2017 until 2 January 2018.

R (Oyston Estates Ltd) v Fylde Borough Council and St Anne’s-on-the-Sea Town Council (2017) EWHC 3086 (Admin) is concerned with time limits for a judicial review of a NDP. The concept of an NDP was introduced into the law by provisions in The Localism Act 2011, inserting the relevant provisions into the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 (the 2004 Act) and the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (the 1990 Act). The making of the NDP was initiated by the Town Council in April 2013 under Section 38A(1) of the 2004 Act. Read more »

Aberdeen City and Shire Strategic Development Planning Authority v Elsick Development Company Limited (2017) UKSC 66 raised an important question of planning law. A planning authority foresees and plans for significant growth in its area. Major investment in transport infrastructure is required to accommodate the aggregate of the planned development. The planning authority seeks to achieve this investment by adopting a policy in its development plan which in substance requires developers to enter into planning obligations with it to make financial contributions to the pooled fund to be spent on the infrastructure, including interventions at places where a particular development has only a trivial impact. Is such a policy within the existing powers of the planning authority under current planning legislation? Read more »

A local planning authority has power to take direct action. This is pursuant to Section 178 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (“the TCPA”).  That empowers the LPA to enter land and take the steps required by an enforcement notice once the period for compliance with the notice has expired. Read more »

A requirement in a planning permission that a property developer enter into an obligation that future occupiers of a building would not apply for a residential parking permit is not capable of being a planning obligation under Section 106 of TCPA 1990. Use of the highway for parking was not use of land in which the person making the agreement was interested.  (However, it was legally valid under a Greater London Council (General Powers) Act.)  So held in R (Khodari) v Kensington & Chelsea RLBC (2017) EWCA Civ 333.

The unsuccessful appeals by the Councils concerned to the Supreme Court in Suffolk Coastal DC v Hopkins Homes Ltd and Richborough Estates Partnership LLP v Cheshire East BC (2017) UKSC 37 related to the proper interpretation of paragraph 49 of the National Planning Policy Framework (“NPPF”), as well as the NPPF’s relationship with the statutory development plan. Part 2 of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 requires local planning authorities to prepare a “development plan”. In preparing “local development documents” authorities must have regard to national policies and advice issued by the Secretary of State (“the SoS”), pursuant to section 19(2). Section 38(6) of the 2004 Act and Section 70(2) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 provide for the development plan to be taken into account in the handling of planning applications. Read more »

On 27 April 2017 the Neighbourhood Planning Act 2017 received the Royal Assent. It makes provision about planning (Part 1) and compulsory purchase (Part 2) compensation. It amends the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004, the Localism Act 2011, and legislation relating to compulsory purchase. Part 1, Neighbourhood Planning, Local Development Documents, Planning Conditions and Planning Register, apply to England.