The Court of Appeal has remotely handed down its first electronic-only planning judgment under the Covid-19 Protocol: Hook v SSHCLG [2020] EWCA Civ 486.

The case related to the decision of a planning inspector to refuse an appeal relating to an application made under s.73A for the erection of an occupational worker's dwelling “ancillary to use of the land for agricultural purposes”.  The problem was that neither the local planning authority, nor the planning inspector, considered that the building was justified by an agricultural need, or was otherwise “for agriculture” for the purposes of NPPF policy on the Green Belt.

The applicant argued in the Court of Appeal that the inspector should have had regard to a suggested condition restricting the use of the building to an occupational worker.  Giving the leading judgment Lindblom LJ rejected that argument holding that “[l]ogically and legally, the condition did not fall to be considered” until it was first established that the building was or would be for agriculture.  The fact that this was a s.73A (retrospective) application with a long planning history made that relatively easy to determine.

Lindblom LJ confirmed that the parties are “not compelled by the description of development in the council's decision notice … to decide the appeal on a false basis” (paras.47-8).  The inspector had to have regard to “the reality of what was proposed”.

Peter Jackson LJ referred to the long planning and enforcement history in this case: a “tiny site” that “has consumed years of official and legal attention at considerable public expense”.  Many authorities will be familiar with that description.  While it says nothing radically new, the decision in Hook promotes a realistic and practical approach that may assist authorities in resolving issues on such sites.

The Court of Appeal also dismissed two other grounds raised, that there had been procedural unfairness and that the reasoning in the inspector’s decision was inadequate.

Cain Ormondroyd appeared for the First Defendant, the Secretary of State, and Ned Westaway appeared for the Second Defendant, Surrey Heath Borough Council.