Cases - R v Secretary of State for the Environment, ex parte Slough Borough Council
Record details
- Name
- R v Secretary of State for the Environment, ex parte Slough Borough Council
- Date
- [1995]
- Citation
- 3 PLR 28
- Legislation
- Keywords
- Planning control
- Summary
-
The local authority applied for outline permission for land it owned with a view to subsequent disposal. The application sought permission for the erection of office buildings with a specified floorspace of 1,055 square metres. In the subsequent grant of permission, there were the usual conditions about approval of reserved matters, but no reference to floorspace whatsoever. The land was sold and the new owner's application for approval of reserved matters stated that the proposed floorspace would be 1,530 square metres. The council refused to approve this application and the owner appealed. The issue was whether the application was within the terms of the outline permission. It was held that it was.
Lord Justice Stuart-Smith said:
'It should be borne in mind that breach of a planning permission may lead to criminal sanctions. The public should be able to rely on a document that is plain on its face without being required to consider whether there is any discrepancy between the permission and the application.'
The Court said that the size of the development may properly be reduced having regard to the reserved matters such as siting, design, landscaping and access. (Note that the scope of this reduction is 'minimal' according to the Court of Appeal in R v Newbury District Council.)
The Court observed that if a planning permission is substantially greater than the application then it might be invalid, as those who might have objected to it have been denied that opportunity (approving Bernard Wheatcroft Ltd v Secretary of State for the Environment (1981) on this point). However, a challenge to validity must be made promptly, and in this case had long since passed.