Cases - R v South Northamptonshire District Council, ex parte Crest Homes plc

Record details

Name
R v South Northamptonshire District Council, ex parte Crest Homes plc
Date
[1994]
Citation
2 PLR 47
Legislation
Keywords
Planning control
Summary

A proposed alteration to the Northamptonshire structure plan would mean that Towcester would have to accommodate so much new residential development that it would nearly double in population. Accordingly the council explored with a group of the main developers, including Crest Homes, what infrastructure was needed, its cost, the extent of the contribution the developers were prepared to make and how that contribution would be made. It was agreed that each developer should make a financial contribution which was a percentage of the enhancement in land value attributable to the grant of permission and that the whole fund would go to the provision of essential infrastructure and services. This would be embodied in section 106 agreements.

Crest withdrew from the group and did not enter a section 106 agreement. Their subsequent application for planning permission was refused and the refusal was upheld on appeal. Crest then challenged the legality of the whole process contending that the council was selling planning permission.

The Court of Appeal held that the council had acted lawfully. It was perfectly legitimate to require a financial contribution to cover the costs of infrastructure related to the development. Such a requirement is for a planning purpose, fairly and reasonably relates to the development and is not Wednesbury unreasonable. Furthermore the percentage formula was a legitimate method to pay for the costs. On the facts, it was a genuine pre-estimate of the developer's proper contribution and there was no suggestion that it would raise a disproportionate amount.