Cindy Jones, R (on the application of) v Cornwall Council

23 August 2024

[2024] EWHC 2198 (Admin)

High Court

Someone challenged Cornwall Council's decision to build houses near a protected area because the reasons for the decision weren't clear enough. The judge decided that even though the reasons were short, they explained why the council allowed the building – they needed the houses badly, and the damage to the protected area would be small.

Key Facts

•Judicial review of Cornwall Council's decision to grant outline planning permission for five dwellings (including affordable housing) on land east of Two Stiles, Treyarnon Lane.
•Grounds for review: inadequate reasons for the decision.
•Site located on the edge of the Cornwall AONB, part of a 6.5-acre field.
•Second application; the first was refused.
•Planning committee's decision to grant permission against officer recommendations.
•Concerns regarding landscape and visual impact, highway safety, and policy compliance.

Legal Principles

Reasons for a decision must be intelligible and adequate; enabling understanding of the decision-making process and resolution of key issues.

Lord Brown in South Bucks v Porter [2004] UKHL 33 at [36]

Local planning authorities can give relatively short reasons for decisions without them being inadequate.

Lord Carnwarth in R (CPRE (Kent)) v Dover District Council [2017] UKSC 79 at [36]

The task of planning authorities is not to assess compliance with each policy individually but to determine if the proposal accords with the development plan as a whole.

Lindblom LJ in R (Corbett) v The Cornwall Council [2020] EWCA Civ 508 at [45]

Outcomes

Claim dismissed.

The committee's reasons, though brief, were adequate. The court found the committee was entitled to weigh the urgent need for affordable housing against the localized harm to the AONB. Even if there were shortcomings, the outcome would likely have been the same.

Cindy Jones, R (on the application of) v Cornwall Council

Key Facts

Legal Principles

Outcomes

Similar Cases

Sarah Moakes v Canterbury City Council

Protect Dunsfold Ltd v Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities & Ors

Bedford Park Developments v Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities & Anor

Hayle Town Council, R (on the application of) v The Cornwall Council

Ardleigh Parish Council, R (on the application of) v Tendring District Council