There’s a lot of it about

I’m sorry if you’ve had one of the winter colds that are going around, but what this heading refers to is recent developments in planning law. They seem to be coming thick and fast.

The most significant of these is the important Supreme Court judgment on the statement of reasons for granting planning permission, which we had been expecting. Readers may recall that I had reported on several previous judgments on this topic, and that I flagged up in a brief blog post on Monday, 6 March that this issue was due to be considered by the Supreme Court towards the end of the year. That judgment, in Dover DC v CPRE Kent [2017] UKSC 79 was delivered on 6 December, and I hope to be able to discuss it here shortly.

In the meantime, there have been other judgments in recent months that I have not yet had time to write up. These include –

R (Holborn Studios Ltd) v Hackney LBC[2017] EWHC 2823, regarding the need for further consultation where a planning application is amended;

and

Braintree DC v SSCLG [2017] EWHC 2743, as to the meaning of "isolated" in paragraph 55 of the NPPF.

Last, but by no means least, a significant consultation paper has been published on Welsh planning law reform. I usually avoid discussing Welsh planning law, because of its increasing divergence from planning law and practice in England, but this consultation paper contains some interesting proposals that may well be a pointer to the way in which the English planning legislation could be consolidated and updated. I hope to be able to take a closer look at the consultation paper here shortly.

Meanwhile, if you still can’t get rid of that cold, try taking max-strength Lem-Sip.

© MARTIN H GOODALL