Norton St. Philip Parish Council v Mendip District Council
[2022] EWHC 3432 (Admin)
Lochailort Investments Limited v Somerset Council
14 July 2023
[2023] EWHC 1776 (Admin)
High Court
A developer's land was wrongly allocated for houses. A judge said to fix it. The council removed the wrong allocation and put the boundary back to where it was before the mistake. The developer sued, but the judge said the council did the right thing.
Key Facts
- •Lochailort Investments Limited owns land (NSP1) initially allocated for housing in the Mendip District Local Plan 2006-2029 Part II (LPP2).
- •The allocation of NSP1, along with four other sites, was deemed unlawful in a previous judgment ([2022] EWHC 3432 (Admin)) due to errors in interpreting the spatial distribution strategy and a failure to consider reasonable alternatives.
- •The court remitted the unlawful allocations, requiring reconsideration.
- •Somerset Council (successor to Mendip District Council) amended the Policies Map, removing the allocations and reverting the development limits of Norton St. Philip to their pre-allocation boundaries.
- •Lochailort challenged the Council's redrawing of the development limits, arguing it was unlawful.
Legal Principles
The court has discretion to quash or remit a local plan or part thereof under s.113 of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 (PCPA 2004).
PCPA 2004, s.113(7) and (7C)
A policies map accompanying a local plan is a Local Development Document (LDD) but not part of the local plan itself. It can be amended by resolution under s.23(1) and s.26(1) of PCPA 2004.
PCPA 2004, s.23(1), s.26(1); Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012 (SI 2012 No. 767), regs. 2(1), 5, 6, 9
A local plan can rely on its accompanying Policies Map to define the geographical scope of a policy; the map need not be explicitly described in the plan's text.
Fox Land and Property Limited v Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government [2015] EWCA Civ 298; R (Bond) v Vale of White Horse District Council [2020] PTSR 724
The court's power to remit a plan allows for flexibility in granting relief, avoiding intrusion on planning judgment but ensuring the lawful consequences of a planning judgment are reflected.
Woodfield v JJ Gallagher Limited [2016] 1 WLR 5126
Outcomes
Lochailort's application for judicial review was dismissed.
The Council's redrawing of the development limits on the Adopted Policies Map was a lawful and rational response to the court's order. It addressed the consequences of the unlawful allocations, and the chosen method (reverting to pre-allocation boundaries) did not violate the court's order or relevant legislation.
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