Savage v Mansfield District Council
2014
ADMINISTRATIVE COURT
UK
CORAM
- MR JUSTICE STEWART
Areas of Law
- Administrative Law
- Environmental Law
- Civil Procedure
2014
ADMINISTRATIVE COURT
UK
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
The court addressed whether the Defendant properly considered Natural England’s advice and assessed the potential impact on protected bird species. Despite the claim of misleading the committee and taking into account irrelevant factors, the court held that the Defendant did what was required and dismissed the claim on all grounds. The case involved the exploration of duties such as the consideration of advice, reasons for decisions, and legitimate expectations, particularly within environmental and administrative law frameworks.
Judgment
Mr Justice Stewart:
Introduction
The Claimant (“C”) seeks permission to apply for judicial review to quash the Defendant’s (“D”) decision of 17 April 2013. This decision granted outline planning permission for the development of 169 hectares of land adjacent to the A617 Mansfield Regeneration Route.
Lewis J refused permission on paper on 18 October 2013. The application has been renewed on 6 of the 7 original grounds.
There is no issue about C’s standing. She is resident on the Bellamy Road Estate which is adjacent to the site. The core of the objection, and of this application, concerns the impact on the bird population of Harlow Wood which is part of the larger Sherwood Forest Region. The proposed development is an urban extension on land adjacent to the regeneration route in the close vicinity of Harlow Wood.
I remind myself that the threshold for permission is a low one, namely that one or more grounds have to be arguable.
The Officer’s Report
The Officer’s report was published prior to the planning committee meeting which took place on 12 July 2011. The report followed a number of letters from Natural England between 1 April 2010 and culminating in a letter dated 16 November 2010. The following are relevant extracts of the report:
16. “ Natural England
No objection subject to conditions and section 106 agreement……
Ecological Issues
The site consists primarily of greenfield land, the majority of which is in use for agricultural purposes. In order to ascertain the impact that the development would have on the ecology of the area, Natural England and Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust (NWT) have been formally consulted on the application. Although details would be finalised at reserved matters stage, no objection has been raised by Natural England. It is noted that NWT have objected to the proposal, in particular with regard to the issues relating to the presence of Nightjar and Woodlark within the area and whether a potential Special Protection Area (pSPA) or a Special Protection Area (SPA) will be designated. However as Natural England considers that the proposals are acceptable in principle subject to conditions and a Section 106 agreement being secured, the comments of NWT are noted but do not justify the refusal of planning permission.
Potential Special Protection Area/Special Protection Area
Natural England has advised that the presence of a substantial breeding population of Nightjar and Woodlark in the Sherwood Forest region m