An application for planning permission was submitted on behalf of David Wilson Homes in 2016, with the Council’s Strategic Sites Committee resolving to grant permission in 2020. However, planning permission was only granted in March 2022, following the adoption of the Vale of Aylesbury Local Plan (the ‘VALP’), which identified the application site as a residential allocation.

The Claimant was granted permission to bring judicial review in respect of the grant of permission on six separate grounds. These included a ‘Kides’ challenge, which alleged that the application should have been referred back to the relevant Committee for reconsideration in light of a number of matters including the adoption of the VALP, and a contention that the Council had represented to local residents that the application would indeed be reconsidered by the Committee, such that its failure to refer the matter back amounted to a breach of legitimate expectation. Other grounds of challenge included a Tameside issue about compliance with development plan policy, that planning officers had exceeded their powers in determining to grant permission pursuant to delegated authority, issues regarding environmental impact assessment screening, and misinterpretation of NPPF policy on the  development of best and most versatile agricultural land.

In a decision dated 16th November 2022, Sir Ross Cranston rejected each of the six grounds of challenge, and accepted the case on behalf of Buckinghamshire Council that permission was lawfully granted.  

A copy of the judgment is available here.

Alexander Booth KC and Charles Streeten appeared on behalf of Buckinghamshire Council

Richard Honey KC, Merrow Golden and Jonathan Welch appeared on behalf of the Claimant, instructed by Fortune Green Legal Practice