R (Larkfleet Homes Ltd) v Rutland County Council [2015] P.T.S.R. 1369

In this challenge to the Uppingham Neighbourhood Plan, the Court of Appeal (Moore-Bick, Richards and Sharp LJJ) held that the provision in Regulation 5(2)(b) of the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012 that “any document that includes a site allocation policy” must be a local development document did not apply to neighbourhood development plans and that that neighbourhood development plans could therefore allocate specific sites for development. The Court also rejected a challenge to the decision to screen out the Uppingham Neighbourhood Plan from strategic environmental assessment (‘SEA’), holding that whilst there was a need for SEA screening decisions to have regard to potential positive as well as potential negative effects on the environment, on the facts it had not been established that the author of the screening decision had failed to have regard to potential positive effects. David Elvin QC and Charles Banner appeared for the Appellant, Larkfleet Homes Ltd, instructed by Marrons Shakespeares LLP. Nathalie Lieven QC appeared for the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, instructed by the Government Legal Department.