Court of Appeal gives judgment upholding Secretary of State’s refusal of the Mynnyd Y Gwynt windfarm

In judgment handed down today, the Court of Appeal (Lewison, Floyd and Peter Jackson LJJ) dismissed an appeal challenging the Secretary of State’s decision to refuse development consent for a 27 turbine wind farm in mid Wales: R (oao Mynnyd y Gwynt Ltd) v Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy [2018] EWCA Civ 231. The Secretary of State had refused consent because she was not satisfied that the project would not have an adverse effect on the integrity of the Elenydd Mallaen Special Protection Area. In particular, she was not satisfied that the project would not undermine the conservation objectives in respect of red kite. The Court of Appeal upheld Hickinbottom J’s decision ([2016] EWHC 2581) and held that the Secretary of State had been entitled to follow Natural Resources Wales’s advice and to conclude that she did not have sufficient information to be satisfied of the absence of an adverse effect on integrity. A copy of the Judgment can be found here. Richard Moules (instructed by the Government Legal Department) appeared for the successful respondent