Case

Franks v SSCLG [2015] EWHC 3690

This was a s288 challenge to an Inspector’s decision to grant planning permission for 125 houses in the AONB on the edge of Broadway. The Inspector considered the impact of the development on views from outside the site in some detail but did not expressly consider the loss of the landscape of the site itself.  It was argued that this meant that he could not have given great weight to conserving the landscape and scenic beauty of the AONB, as required by paragraph 115 of the NPPF.  Ouseley J held that the Inspector ‘takes it as a given that there is a failure to conserve the landscape of the immediate development site by virtue of the development itself’ – despite the Inspector not actually having said this. The judgment contains interesting comments on the relationship between paragraphs 115 and 116 of the NPPF. Richard Langham appeared for the claimant, on a public access basis.

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