Cases - R v South Holland District Council, ex parte Lincoln Co-operative Society Ltd

Record details

Name

R v South Holland District Council, ex parte Lincoln Co-operative Society Ltd

Date

[2000]

Citation

EGCS 133

Keywords

Planning control

Summary

In 1998 planning permission was sought for a supermarket about 300 metres from the centre of a small country town. Permission was refused, largely because of the detrimental effect the development would have on the existing town centre. A second application was made in 1999 accompanied by an offer to pay £100,000 by way of a planning obligation. Against officer advice, the committee granted permission stating that the additional benefits provided by the £100,000 would 'outweigh' the adverse effect on the town.

Lady Justice Smith held that, although the obligation just 'crept across the threshold of materiality' the decision to grant permission was Wednesbury unreasonable. There had been no evaluation of what could be achieved with the £100,000 and the committee had no information upon which to act. The benefits which might be derived from the money were a matter of pure speculation. There were no rational grounds for believing that the obligation could significantly address the harm envisaged by the development, let alone outweigh it.