Wiltshire Council v Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government and Others
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judge | Mrs Justice Patterson |
| Judgment Date | 20 May 2015 |
| Neutral Citation | [2015] EWHC 1459 (Admin) |
| Docket Number | Case No: CO/416/2015 |
| Court | Queen's Bench Division (Administrative Court) |
| Date | 20 May 2015 |
[2015] EWHC 1459 (Admin)
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE
QUEEN'S BENCH DIVISION
ADMINISTRATIVE COURT
Royal Courts of Justice
Strand, London, WC2A 2LL
The Honourable Mrs Justice Patterson DBE
Case No: CO/416/2015
Mr Hugh Richards (instructed by Wiltshire County Council) for the Claimant
Mr Graham Walters (instructed by Government Legal Department) for the First Defendant
Mr Richard Kimblin (instructed by Osborne Clark) for the Second to Fourth Defendants
After the decision in the case was handed down on 5 May 2015 ( [2015] EWHC 1261 (Admin)) I invited submissions as to the Order and costs. All parties made further submissions.
The second, third and fourth defendants made representations that a declaration should be made instead of a quashing Order. They argued that the case was abnormal for eight reasons. They were:
i) The differences between the matters which the examining inspector took into account and the matters which the section 78 inspector took into account were very slim;
ii) Whilst there was a material consideration which had not been taken into account the extent to which the position might be changed in light of the slim differences was very limited. That factor needed to go into the balance when deciding the appropriate remedy;
iii) The section 78 appeal proceeded on the basis of an express concession. That was that there was a shortfall in the five year housing land supply which was enshrined in the statement of common ground;
iv) At no time did the claimant resile from that concession;
v) The claimant failed to explain itself clearly to the first defendant;
vi) The claimant's grounds and first skeleton argument did not articulate the materiality of the examining inspector's report;
vii) The claimant failed to put the second to fourth defendants on notice of its communications with the PINS case officer;
viii) As a result the second to fourth defendants risk being sent back to an inquiry which would be completely different to that which it went to at the outset namely with a different Development Plan and different housing situation.
In those most unusual circumstances the second to fourth defendants submitted that the fair and proportionate response would be to acknowledge the unlawfulness by way of declaration. To quash would be disproportionate, unjustly reward the planning authority and would severely prejudice the second to fourth defendants.
The claimant submits that no submissions were made at the hearing that a declaration should be the appropriate remedy in the event that an error of law was established.
Without prejudice to that the claimant makes the following submissions in relation to the points raised by the...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Wiltshire Council v Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government and Others
...of State adopted a neutral position. 7 On consideration of the parties' submissions, the judge issued a supplementary judgment, [2015] EWHC 1459 (Admin). In that supplementary judgment, she set out the rival post-judgment submissions and decided in favour of a declaration rather than a qua......
-
Baroness Cuberlege of Newick and Another v Secrtary of State for Communities and Local Government and Another
...to make. 145 It is true that Patterson J considered, in Wiltshire Council v Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government [2015] EWHC 1459 (Admin), that the court has power on an application under section 288 of the 1990 Act to grant a declaration that the decision to grant the p......
-
Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government v South Gloucestershire Council and Another
...As Mr Whale acknowledges, relevant decisions at first instance have not been consistent (see, for example, Wiltshire Council v Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government [2015] EWHC 1459 (Admin), in which Patterson J. granted a declaration in section 288 proceedings, and R. (on......