Cases - British Railways Board v Secretary of State for the Environment
Record details
- Name
- British Railways Board v Secretary of State for the Environment
- Date
- [1993]
- Citation
- 3 PLR 125
- Legislation
- Keywords
- Planning control - Town and Country Planning Act 1990
- Summary
-
British Rail applied for planning permission for housing. On appeal, the inspector recommended the provision of an access road by way of a Grampian condition. This would require Hounslow Council to enter into a section 52 agreement with British Rail. Hounslow refused to enter into such an agreement. So the Secretary of State refused permission on the basis that a Grampian condition would be void as there was no reasonable prospect of the access road being built. British Rail challenged this decision.
The House of Lords held that there is no absolute rule that the existence of difficulties, even if apparently insuperable, must necessarily lead to refusal of planning permission for a desirable development. Lord Keith observed that the 1990 Act provides that planning permission can be sought by a person who does not own the land the subject of the application and it would not be legitimate for a planning authority to refuse permission simply because the owner is opposed to development. The case was remitted to the Secretary of State.