Bolton Metropolitan District Council v Secretary of State for the Environment (Practice Note)
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Court | House of Lords |
| Judgment Date | 1995 |
| Year | 1995 |
| Date | 1995 |
Costs - Discretion of court - Several parties - Multiple representation in planning appeals - Appeals of Secretary of State, developer and development corporation successful - Whether appellants having separate interests - Whether entitled to separate orders for costs
Although costs are in the court's discretion, in planning appeals, where the Secretary of State succeeds in defending his decision he will normally be entitled to the whole of his costs and should not be required to share them by apportionment. The developer will not normally be entitled to his costs unless he demonstrates a separate issue, not covered by the Secretary of State, on which he was entitled to be heard, or has an interest requiring separate representation. A second set of costs is more likely to be awarded at first instance than in the Court of Appeal or the House of Lords, and an award of a third set of costs will rarely be justified (post, pp. 1177E–F, 1178F–1179A, F).
Where, therefore, after their appeals were allowed by the House of Lords the Secretary of State for the Environment, the developer and the development corporation each sought an order for costs:—
Held, that since the case raised difficult questions of principle arising out of the change of Government policy between the date of application and the final decision, the scale of the development and the importance of the outcome for the developers were both of exceptional size and weight and the opposition came from eight neighbouring authorities supported financially by a consortium of major commercial interests, the developer was entitled to costs in the House of Lords and below; but that since the interests of the developer and the development corporation were identical a third set of costs would not be justified (post, pp. 1177E–F, 1179B–F).
The following cases are referred to in the opinion of Lord Lloyd of Berwick:
Birmingham City Council v. H. (A Minor) [
Waverley Borough Council v. Secretary of State for the Environment [
Wychavon District Council v. Secretary of State for the Environment (
The following additional case was cited in argument:
Westminster City Council v. Secretary of State for the Environment [
APPLICATION for costs.
Conjoined appeals by the three appellants, the Secretary of State for the Environment, Manchester Ship Canal Co. and Trafford Park Development Corporation (who were separately represented) from an order dated 8 July 1994 of the Court of Appeal (Glidewell, Hoffmann and Hobhouse L.JJ.) (
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South Bucks District Council v Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions and another
...grant of planning permission on appeal from the local planning authority's refusal of permission, and Bolton Metropolitan District Council v Secretary of State for the Environment (1995) 71 P & CR 309 ("Bolton") concerning the Secretary of State's grant of planning permission on a called-in......
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R (Kibris) v Transport Secretary [England, Court of Appeal]
...the award of costs is in the discretion of the court but that the principles identified in Bolton Metropolitan District Council v Secretary of State for the Environment [1995] 1 WLR 1176, 1178H, are usually applied to determine whether or not an interested party can recover its costs in an ......
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Gladman Developments Ltd v Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government
...issue (1) and the difficult questions of principle it raised. 131 Applying the principles in Bolton Metropolitan District Council v Secretary of State for the Environment [1995] 1 WLR 1176, 1178–9, I do not consider that it would be appropriate to award a second set of costs beyond those re......
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R Augustine Housing Trust v Bolton Magistrates Court (Interested Party)
...140 Because we had an extended adjournment I have myself provided to the parties the case ofBolton Metropolitan District Council v Secretary of State for the Environment [1995] 1 WLR 1176, where Lord Lloyd in a planning context sets out principles at 1178 beginning at F which apply where th......
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Court Of Appeal Just Another Stop On The Road For QASA
...scheme and identify areas for improvement. The appellants also cited the case of Bolton MDC v Secretary of State for the Environment [1995] 1 WLR 1176, [1996] 1 All ER 184, which established that unsuccessful claimants should not be ordered to pay the costs of interested parties in addition......