Cases - Staffordshire County Council v NGR Land Developments Ltd and others
Record details
- Name
- Staffordshire County Council v NGR Land Developments Ltd and others
- Date
- [2002]
- Citation
- EWCA Civ 856
- Legislation
- Keywords
- Planning control
- Summary
-
In 1956, planning permission was granted for the working of clay. In the course of clay working, a seam of coal was discovered which hindered further extraction of clay. So in 1987 planning permission was granted to the National Coal Board (NCB) for the extraction of the coal. The NCB acquired the rights to the relevant area, extracted coal by opencast working, and fully restored the area in accordance with the 1987 permission.
It was contended by the local planning authority that the clay working permission could no longer be implemented, as it would mean undoing all the work of reinstatement and aftercare in accordance with the conditions in the coal working permission.
The Court of Appeal held that the clay working permission was still valid. It was physically possible to carry out that permission according to its terms. The fact that it was incompatible with conditions in the coal permission was of no relevance.