Cases - R v Teignbridge DC, ex parte Teignmouth Quay Co. Ltd
Record details
- Name
- R v Teignbridge DC, ex parte Teignmouth Quay Co. Ltd
- Date
- [1995]
- Citation
- 2 PLR 1
- Legislation
- Keywords
- Planning control
- Summary
-
Before serving a planning contravention notice (PCN), it must appear to the LPA that there has been a breach of planning control. The LPA cannot serve a PCN just because some other body believes there to have been a breach.
In this case there was nothing to suspect that the development was outside the General Development Order, but the LPA served a PCN, probably with a view to:
- appeasing local residents who had objected to the development; and
- satisfing the Teignmouth Harbour Environmental Co-ordinating Committee, which had doubts about the legality of the development.
The Teignmouth Quay Co. successfully sought a court order to quash the PCN. The judge observed that the LPA must reach its own conclusion as to whether there may have been a breach of planning control, and refusal by a landowner to co-operate with inquiries by a council is not sufficient, on its own, to satisfy the minimal statutory requirements without which the contravention notice may not be served.