Microsoft Word - Challenging v4 grant of pp by JR

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(July!1,!2013)!

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So,!no!matter!how!good!your!case!may!be,!the!expectation!is!that! the!challenge!to!

the!local!planning!authority’s!decision!must!be!made!within!6!weeks.!

This! Note! is! intended! to! help! you! make! the! best! use! of! the! short! time! that! you!

now!have.!!There!is!much!that!you!can!do!before!you!even!pick!up!the!phone!or!

email!a!lawyer.!!!

Of!course,!there!is!still!scope!for!very!strong!cases!t o!be!allowed!to!proceed!after!

that!cut!off!date!–!but!why! throw!yourself!on!the!mercy!of!the!court?!!It!is! difficult!

enough!to!persuade!a!court!that!an!authority!has!made!an!error,!without!adding!a!

timing!problem!to!your!tasks.!

The!only!‘good’!news!is!that!the!rules!on!costs!protection!have!been!made!clearer.!!!

06H!C67!>6?@A7I!

It! used! to! be! possible! to! bring! all! judicial! review! claims! within! 3! months.! The!

government’s! agenda! has! meant! that! they! wanted! to! restrict! this.!!The! Justice!

Secretary,! Chris! Grayling,! has! said! that! the! changes! were! intended! to! prevent!

claims!being!used!as!a!“cheap!delaying!t actic” !in!planning!matters.!!Whatever!we!

might! say! about! the! evidence! to! justify! this! statement,! the! changes! were!

announced!in!April!2013.!!They!came!into!effect!on!1

!July.!

Anyone!considering!challenging!a!grant!of!planning!permission!by!way!of!judicial!

review! must! be! aware! of! these! changes! in! order! for! a! challenge! to! be! lodged!

effectively.!!You!do!not!have!the!option,!unlike!the!applicant,!of!appealing!to!the!

Secretary!of!State!(and!the!Planning!Inspectorate).!

06?C!B;!C67!87:7J?@C!K?C7!=<!C67!D:?@@B@A!K7>B;B=@!I!!

The!6!week!time!period!runs!from!the!date!of!the!Decision!Notice,!not!the!earlier!

committee!resolution,!or!the!later!date!when!you!find!out!ab ou t!the!decision.!!If!

there!has!been!more!than!one!decision,!get!all!this!information.!!!

06?C!B<!;BL!M77N;!6?;!?:87?KH!D?;;7K!I!

You!will!need!a!very!good!reason!to!explain!why!the!6!week!time!limit!should!be!

varied!V!for!instance,!that!there! was!a!failure!to!notify!neighbours.!!The!Court!will!

then! decide! if! it! will! exercise! its! power! to! vary! the! time! limit! (under! CPR!

3.1(2)(a)),!and!you!will!need!to!set!out!why!it!should!do!this!in!the!Claim!Form.!!

As! the! court! guidance! itself! notes,! this! is! an! exceptional! power! and! delaying!

whilst! you! comply! with! the! preVaction! protocol! is! unlikely! on! its! own! to! be!

sufficient!to!persuade!the!court!to!allow! a !late!claim.!!!

.98!;9AA7;C7K!>67>N:B;C!

If! you! are! considering! challenging! a! planning! decision! by! judicial! review,!

complete!this!checklist!and!you!are!already!saving!valuable!time!:V!

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(1) The!Decision!Notice,!or!notices;!every!planning!permission! ha s!a!“Decision!

Notice”,!on!w hich!the!local!planning!authority!will!have!set!out!a!summary!

of!its!reasons!for!granting!the!permission.!!!

(2) The!planning!officer’s!report!on!the!application.!This!will!go!into!far!more!

detail!than!the!Decision!Notice.!!If!the!decision!was!made!by!the!planning!

committee,!this!will!have!been!published!before!the!committee!date.!!If!the!

decision! was! delegated! to! the! officer,! you! may! have! to! ask!the! authority!

specifically!for!it.!

(3) A!copy!of!the!relevant!local!plan! pol icies!(you!need!the!actual!wording,!not!

just!the!summary!given!by!the!officer!in!his!or!her!report).!

(4) Your!letter(s)!of!objection.!!!

Getting!electronic!copies!(and!scanned!documents)!as!well!as!paper!copies!

will!save!time!later!as!well.!!

Further' useful' documents' include:! any! minutes! of! committee! meetings,!

copies! of! the! planning! application! supporting! documents! (usually! there!

will! be! a! weblink! on! the! Authority’s! website);! copies! of! any! relevant!

national! policy! (this! will! be! available! online,! e.g.! the! National! planning!

Policy!Framework)!

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(1) Where! the! claim! concerns! a! decision! by! a! local! authority,! the! address!

should!be!on!the!decision!letter/notification,!and!it! helps!to!get! the!legal!

department’s!details!as!well.!!!

(2) Where! the! claim! concerns! a! decision! by! a! government! department! or!

body,! and!the! Treasury! Solicitor!has!already! been! involved!in!the! case! a!

copy! should! al so! be! sent,! quoting! the! Treasury! Solicitor's! reference,! to:!

The!Treasury!Solicitor,!One!Kemble!Street,!London!WC2B!4TS.!!!

(3) In!all!other!circumstances,!the!letter!should!be!sent!to!the!address!on!the!

letter!notifying!the!decision.!

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Every! claim! needs! a! named! claimant,! with! their! title,! first! and! last! name!

and!address.!!!Also!decide!what!is!going!to!be!the!address!for!any!reply!to!

be!sent!to,!and!where!should!any!court!documents!be!served.!

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The! applicant! for! the! permission! is! an! obvious! candidate,! as! will! any!

landowner.!!You!will!need! to!set!out!the!details!of!any!interested!parties!in!

the! Claim! Form! and,!if! you!write! a! preVaction! letter! they! must!be! sent! a!

copy!of!this!letter.!

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This!may!be!obvious!(e.g.!revoke!the!decision)!but!it!needs!an!answer.!The!

High! Court! is! restricted! in! the! orders! that! it! can! make! if! you! succeed! –!

quashing! the! decision,! making! a! declaration,! granting!an! injunction.!! If!a!

building! or,! say,! woodland,! is! under! threat! –! do! you! want! an! interim!

remedy!to!stop!its!loss!?!

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You! can! ask! them! for! this,! and! you! can! include! a! request! for! a! fuller!

explanation!of!the!reasons!for!the!decision!that!is!being!challenged.!

167!D87P?>CB=@!:7CC78!

The! information! in! this! checklist! above! is! the! same! information! as! would! be!

included!in!the!letter!before!action!to!the!local!planning!authority.!!But !there!is!a!

timing! problem! created! by! these! new! rules! –! the! Court’s! advice! is!still! that!the!

parties!should!attempt!to!comply!with!the!PreVAction!Protocol.!

As!anyone!who!has!read!the!court’s!guidance!on!preVaction!letters!knows,!14!days!

is!normally!seen!as!a!reasonable!time!to!allow!for!a!reply!in!most!circumstances.!!

This!clearly!will! only! rarely!be! available! where!t here! is! only!6! weeks! overall!to!

make!a!claim.!!So,!do!t he!best!you!can!in!the!circumstances.!!But! note!that!M8BCB@A!

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If!you!want!to!see!what!a!judicial!review!Claim! Form! l ooks! l ike,!this!is!available!on!

the!internet,!at!the!Ministry!of!Justice!website.!!Or!just!google/search! for!“Form!

N461”.!!Note!that!claims!can! now!be!filed! in!the!Administrative!Court!Offices!in!

London,!Birmingham,!Manchester,!Leeds!or!Cardiff.!!

It!is!worth!bearing!in!mind!that!there!is!one!main!hurdle!to!clear!before!your!case!

will!be!heard!–!the!court!must!give!you!permission!to!proceed.!This!is!normally!

done!by! a!judge!reading!your!application,!as!well!as!any!reply!from!the!defendant!

authority!and!interested!parties!–!which!is!why!you!need!to!get!the!details!of!your!

claim!clear!at!the!beginning.!

A! further! change! ha s! been! brought! it,! that! allow s! the! judge! to! find! that! your!

application! for! judicial! review! is! “entirely! without! merit”! –! and! if! so,! this! will!

prevent! you! from! seeking! an! oral! hearing! for! permission! for! judicial! review.!!

Again,!your!claim!must!be!properly!framed!from!the!beginning.!

You!will! also!(soon)! have!to! pay!a! further!£215!court!fee!for!an! oral!hearing! to!

renew!claims!that!have!been!previously!refused!on!the!papers!(previously!the!fee!

was!£60).!It! is!only!if! permission!is!granted! at!the!oral! permission! hearing!that!

the!fee!for!the!substantive!judicial!review!hearing!will!be!waived.!

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This!is!likel y!to!be!an!area!in!which!specialist!advice!will!be!needed.!!Remember!

that! the! Court! is! only! reviewing! the! legality! of! the! decision,! and! has! no! power!

(unlike!a!planning!inspector)!to!make!the!decision!itself.!!If!you!win!in!court,!the!

matter!will!be!returned!to!the!local!authority!to!decide,!in!the!light!of!the!court’s!

decision.!

As!a!starting!point,!there!are!three!basic!rules:!

(1) The! Local! Planning! Authority! must! have! complied! with! the! law.! If! an!

authority! has! exceeded! the! powers! it! has! been! given,! or! hasn’t! complied!

with!its!legal!duty!to!act!in!a!particular!way,!or!ignored!the!development!

plan,!policies!or!guidance,!then!it!may!have!acted!unlawfully.!

(2) Authorities!must!act!fairly.!This!means!that !they!must!not!be,!or!appear!to!

be,!biased.!They!must!act!consistently.!

(3) Finally,!authorities!must!not!act!illogically!or!irrationally.!

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It!is!inevitable!that!you!must!consider!funding!issues.!The!general!rule!is!that!the!

losing!party!has!to!pay!its!own!costs!and!the!costs!of!the!winning!side.!!

However,! you!can! protect! yourself! from!the! worst! consequences!of!losing.! ! You!

will!see!on!the!new!Claim!Form!(ref!N461)!that!there!is!a!section!for!an!“Aarhus!

Convention!claim”.!If!you!ask!for!this!to!apply,!the!maximum!risk!of!exposure!to!

the! other! side’s! costs! is! limited! for! individuals! to! a! cap! of! £5,000! and! for! an!

organisation! to! a! cap! of! £10,000.! ! Your! side! will! normally! be! restricted! to!

recovering!a!maximum!of!£35,000!in!costs!from!the!defendant.!!

You!need!to!explain!why!your!claim!is!an!Aarhus!Convention!cla im!in!the!Claim!

Form! –! essentially! that!it!relates!to! the! protection! of! the! environment.! ! For! the!

purposes!of!t he!CPR,!a!claim!is!considered!t o!be!an!Aarhus!Convention!claim!if!it!

is!“a!claim!for!judicial!review!of!a!decision,!act!or!omission!all!or!part!of!which!is!

subject! to! the! provisions! of! the! Aarhus! Convention.”! The! Aarhus! Convention!

covers!all!aspects!of!environmental!justice.!

)@! ;9EE?8HS! it! is! clear! that! these! changes! have! been! designed! to! make! the!

process!of!bringing!an!application!for!judicial!review!more!difficult.!Nevertheless,!

assuming!that!you!consider!your!position!immediately!after!you!are!informed!of!a!

grant!of!planning!permission!and!seek!(and!act!on)! lega l!advice!promptly,!it!is!still!

possible!to!challenge!decisions!successfully!though!judicial!review.!

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