Instructed by Persimmon Homes Ltd in the Court of Appeal in R(Lewis) v Redcar BC [2007] EWHC 3166 (Admin)

This is a forthcoming appeal from the judgment of Jackson J, who found that a decision to approve a large planning application (300 houses) was flawed because of “apparent predetermination”.

Apart from the commercial importance of the scheme to Persimmon, case raises a basic and important legal issue about the approach to predetermination in cases where councillors might be expected to have strong political views.