Cases - Newbury District Council v Secretary of State for the Environment

Record details

Name
Newbury District Council v Secretary of State for the Environment
Date
[1980]
Citation
1 AII ER 731
Legislation
Keywords
Planning control - Use Classes Order 1950
Summary

The appellant sought planning permission to use existing hangars on an airfield for the storage of synthetic rubber. Permission was granted subject to a condition that the hangars be removed after 10 years. The appellant contested the validity of the condition.

The House of Lords extracted 3 tests from the case law (now usually referred to as the 'Newbury tests') for determining the validity of planning conditions:

  1. The condition must be for a planning purpose.
  2. The condition must fairly and reasonably relate to the permitted development.
  3. The condition must not be Wednesbury unreasonable, i.e. so unreasonable that no reasonable authority would ever impose it.

The House of Lords held that the condition failed test 2. The permission was merely for a change of use of existing substantial buildings.

(The House also determined that, in any event, no planning permission had been required, for the previous and the proposed use were both within Class X of the Use Classes Order 1950.)