Gilbert, R (On the Application Of) v Secretary of State for Communities And Local Government & Anor
2014
ADMINISTRATIVE COURT
UK
CORAM
- MR JUSTICE SUPPERSTONE
Areas of Law
- Administrative Law
- Environmental Law
2014
ADMINISTRATIVE COURT
UK
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
Mr. Philip Gilbert sought to quash a Screening Direction and a planning permission grant connected to the Bruntingthorpe Proving Ground, arguing unlawful decisions due to inadequate noise control measures. The court, referring to established cases and statutory provisions, upheld the Screening Direction and the planning permission, concluding that the measures were effectively implemented and cumulative environmental impacts sufficiently considered.
J U D G M E N T
MR JUSTICE SUPPERSTONE: By this application Mr Philip Gilbert, the Claimant, seeks to quash two decisions. First, a Screening Direction by the Secretary of State for Communities And Local Government ("the First Defendant") dated 26 March 2013, made pursuant to regulation 6 of the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2011 ; and second, the grant of planning permission dated 27 March 2013 by Harborough District Council ("the Second Defendant").
The effect of the Screening Direction is a ruling that the proposal to make permanent temporary planning permission for additional vehicular activities at Bruntingthorpe Proving Ground ("BPG") is not likely to have significant effects on the environment. The proposal does not thereby constitute “EIA development”, so as to subject it to a full scale environmental assessment during the development consent process.
The thrust of the Claimant's challenge is directed at the Screening Direction. It is common ground that if the Screening Direction was unlawful, then the grant of planning permission was also unlawful.
The Claimant is a local resident who, together with others, is concerned about what is seen as an incremental and poorly controlled expansion of noisy activities at BPG. The Screening Direction was made by Mr Colbourne on behalf of the First Defendant. The Second Defendant is the local planning authority that granted the permission. C Walton Limited, the interested party, operates BPG and is the beneficiary of the planning permission under challenge.
BPG is a 250-hectare site located in the open countryside in Leicestershire, east of Lutterworth. It was formerly an airfield built in 1942 for use by bomber aircraft in the second world war. Since 1973 it has been used as a vehicle proving and testing ground and is one of the largest proving and testing grounds in Britain. The second defendant's planning officers in their report dated 31 July 2012 described it as having a "very complicated and vast planning history." As Mr Pereira for the Claimant observes "this has resulted in the authorisation of a range of noisy activities on the site associated with aircraft and motor vehicles" (Claimant's skeleton argument paragraph 6).
There is also an aircraft museum which has an open day twice a year; and aircraft recycling took place from May 2012 until December 2013, as a result of which aircraft occasionally landed at the site.
On 22 December 2008 the Second Defen