News and Resources

The Secretary of State sent a curious letter to the Planning Inspectorate on 18 June 2019, which was only placed on the Government’s website on 28 June 2019. (The delay may have been to allow PINS to update its procedure guide for local plan examinations). It is in two parts: Sharing information with MHCLG The …

We held a dinner party for clients this week and after a certain amount of wine and gossip the conversation turned to a deeper question. What really is the meaning of Lambeth? The Supreme Court judgment’s judgment in London Borough of Lambeth v Secretary of State (Supreme Court, 3 July 2019) had been handed down …

Local authorities in south Hampshire have been advised by a Government body not to grant permission for most forms of residential development until further notice. Perhaps absurdly, but in desperation, authorities have even been exploring amongst themselves whether they could at least grant planning permission subject to a condition restricting the homes from being occupied, …

As with blog posts, it is helpful for legislation to have a snappy title. The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe’s Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters is therefore better known as the Aarhus Convention, after the city in Denmark where it was signed on …

The exercise of the Secretary of State’s power to call in applications and recover appeals for his own determination is inherently politically charged. This blog post focuses on two recent recovered appeals. The other reverse lottery, of call in, is for another day. The Secretary of State’s policy as to recovering appeals is handily summarised …

“Out of the blue and into the black You pay for this, but they give you that And once you’re gone, you can’t come back When you’re out of the blue and into the black.” (Neil Young) Two double act dates for the diary: 12 July (Bob Dylan and Neil Young, Hyde Park) 1 September …

An interesting example last week of the legal pitfalls should planning permission be granted on the basis of inadequate environmental impact assessment. Interesting partly because although the messages read straight across to all EIA development, including the glitziest of urban development projects, the specific question arose in a very different context: Did a local planning …

The Planning Inspectorate has certainly been moving at pace to improve its inquiry appeal processes following Bridget Rosewell’s independent review of planning appeal inquiries, which I covered in detail in my 15 March 2019 blog post Accelerated Planning. The move to a system of imposing inquiry dates has predictably created the greatest fuss, although is …

“To live outside the law, you must be honest” (Bob Dylan) This blog post covers: ⁃ the principles to be applied in relation to bringing a late claim for judicial review ⁃ the Environmental Audit Committee’s scrutiny of the enforcement and JR aspects of the draft Environment (Principles and Governance) Bill ⁃ The Supreme Court’s …

Two years after my 6 May 2017 blog post Slow Train Coming: Strategic Rail Freight Interchanges In The South East, progress remains slow. I referred in my blog post to the ongoing saga of the Howbury Park (now known as Slade Green), strategic rail freight interchange scheme promoted initially by Prologis (who obtained a, now time …