Bentley Pauncefoot Parish Council v Redditch Borough Council & Anor
[2023] EWHC 456 (Admin)
Macintosh Village (Management) Limited, R (on the application of) v Manchester City Council
25 November 2022
[2022] EWHC 3002 (Admin)
High Court
A group of residents challenged a planning decision for a big building next to their car park. They argued the council made mistakes and misled them, but the judge decided the council did everything properly. The new building will go ahead.
Key Facts
- •Macintosh Village (Management) Limited (MVML) sought judicial review of Manchester City Council's (the Council) decision to grant planning permission to GMS (Parking) Limited (GMS) for a 55-storey tower block.
- •The development involved reconfiguring an existing multi-storey car park (MSCP) with a significant reduction in parking spaces.
- •MVML represents leaseholders with residents' rights to park (RRPs) in the existing MSCP.
- •The proposed reconfigured MSCP would retain spaces for those with RRPs, but with a significant reduction in total capacity.
- •Key concerns raised by MVML included misleading information regarding car park access during construction (the Cranes Issue), inadequate assessment of health risks from dust and contaminants (the Dust Issue), non-compliance with the Public Sector Equality Duty regarding disabled parking (the Disabled Car Park Users Issue), unlawful consultation on amendments to the Environmental Statement (ES) (the Consultation Issue), and failure to send a copy of the amended ES to special consultees (the Send-A-Copy Issue).
- •A further issue concerned whether the Council seriously misled the Committee by advising that private third-party rights to park were not material planning considerations (the Injunction Issue).
Legal Principles
Principles for assessing whether planning officers materially misled a committee.
R (Mansell) v Tonbridge & Malling BC [2017] EWCA Civ 1314
Legal requirements for legally adequate environmental statements under the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2017.
Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2017/571
Principles regarding legally inadequate environmental statements that vitiate planning decisions.
R (Blewett) v Derbyshire County Council [2003] EWHC 2775 (Admin)
Principles regarding the Public Sector Equality Duty under the Equality Act 2010.
Equality Act 2010, sections 149(1) and (3)
Principles regarding the exercise of the Public Sector Equality Duty.
Hotak v Southwark LBC [2015] UKSC 30
Principles regarding lawful consultation.
R (Moseley) v Haringey LBC [2014] UKSC 56
EIA Regulations regarding consultation duties.
Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2017/571
Principles regarding the discretion to refuse relief on judicial review for breaches of EIA regulations.
R (Champion) v North Norfolk District Council [2015] UKSC 52
Interpretation of planning policies.
Tesco Stores Ltd v Dundee City Council [2012] UKSC 13
Identifying material planning considerations.
R (Samuel Smith Old Brewery) v North Yorkshire [2020] UKSC 3
Outcomes
Judicial review application dismissed.
The court found that none of the grounds for judicial review were successful. The Council's actions were deemed lawful and reasonable.
Application to adduce further evidence granted in part.
The court permitted the use of Mr. Halley's witness statement to explain MVML's delay in submitting representations.
Application for permission to amend grounds refused.
The court deemed the proposed amendment (Send-A-Copy Issue) unarguable.
Permission to appeal refused.
The court found the proposed appeal on the Injunction Issue lacked a real prospect of success.
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