Cases - R v Leominster District Council, ex parte Pothecary

Record details

Name
R v Leominster District Council, ex parte Pothecary
Date
[1997]
Citation
3 PLR 91
Legislation
Keywords
Planning control
Summary

Lord Justice Robert Walker said:

'This appeal shows that there are cases, of which this is a striking example, when the first stage must be for the decision maker to decide whether the proposed development is or is not in accordance with the development plan. Sometimes, of course, the answer to that question will be obvious ... But more often the development plan will (as in the City of Edinburgh Council case, and as in this case) contain exceptions, qualifications, overlapping or even contradictory policies and issues on which value judgments have to be made. In such cases it is desirable that planning officers should state their perception as to whether or not any proposed development is in accordance with the development plan, and that the planning authority should state whether or not they accept and agree with the officers' advice. I do not intend to give any encouragement to the lengthy recital of policies as a matter of rote. What is important is for it to be apparent how the decision maker has approached the important new statutory duty imposed by section 54A.'