District fails in court challenge to decision by planning inspector on 34-home scheme
A district council has failed in a High Court challenge to a planning inspector’s decision to grant planning permission for a development with up to 34 dwellings.
In Chichester District Council v Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government & Anor [2018] EWHC 2386 (Admin) Chichester challenged by statutory review under s.288 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 the decision of the inspector on 2 November 2017 to allow an appeal by the developer, Beechcroft Ltd.
The district council had decided on 8 February 2017 to refuse the company’s application for planning permission for the dwellings and related development of land at Breach Avenue, Southbourne, West Sussex.
Chichester challenged the inspector's decision letter on two grounds which were related. It contended that:
- The inspector failed to decide whether the proposed development "conflicts with a neighbourhood plan", namely the Southbourne Parish Neighbourhood Plan 2014-2019 (“the NP”) as required by para 198 of the National Planning and Policy Framework.
- The inspector irrationally relied upon a distinction between the "policies" of the NP and its "aims" when assessing whether the proposed development conflicted with the NP.
However, Upper Tribunal judge Andrew Grubb, sitting as a Deputy High Court judge, dismissed the challenge.
