Key Facts
- •Waverley Borough Council (Council) applied for judicial review of referendum processes for Elstead & Weyburn, and Cranleigh Neighbourhood Plans.
- •Material errors were discovered in the published Neighbourhood Plan documents after postal ballots were sent.
- •The errors included discrepancies between the published plans and the examiner-approved versions.
- •The Council sought to halt the referendums due to the unlawful nature of proceeding with incorrect documents.
- •The claim was filed on February 16th, 2024, after the postal ballots were sent on February 16th, 2024.
Legal Principles
The court is slow to grant injunctions before elections unless exceptional circumstances exist.
R (Begum) v Tower Hamlets LBC [2006] EWCA Civ 733
Neighbourhood Plan referendums must adhere to the Neighbourhood Plan (Referendums) Regulations 2012.
Neighbourhood Plan (Referendums) Regulations 2012
Referendum processes must be followed as prescribed by the Regulations unless restrained by court order.
Neighbourhood Plan (Referendums) Regulations 2012
The Town and Country Planning Act 1990 requires referendums upon acceptance of examiner recommendations for Neighbourhood Plans.
Town and Country Planning Act 1990, Schedule 4B, para. 12
Outcomes
Permission for judicial review granted.
Exceptional circumstances existed: proceeding with the referendum would have resulted in an unlawful outcome due to material errors in the published plans, violating Regulation 4.
Substantive claim for judicial review allowed.
The referendums would have produced an unlawful result because voters did not receive the correct, approved plans as required by the Regulations.
Referendum processes were restrained until the determination of the claim.
To prevent an unlawful outcome.