The Court of Appeal decided that development of 210 dwellings outside the settlement boundary was not in conflict with the Parish Council’s Neighbourhood Plan which stipulates that “new development in Thurston Parish shall be focused within the settlement boundary of Thurston Village as defined on the Policies Maps”, see Policy 1: Spatial Strategy of the Neighbourhood Plan.
 
The Court of Appeal (Lewison, Singh and Whipple LJJ) decided that the District Council’s decision to grant planning permission which the Parish Council had challenged involved the “application” of Policy 1 and not its “interpretation”, see at para. [42].  The Court also stated that the word “focused” does not mean that there can never be any development of a general kind outside a settlement boundary, see at para. [54].
 
The Parish Council’s fundamental contention, which was accepted by the Judge at first instance, see at [2022] EWHC 352 (Admin), is that the Neighbourhood Plan provides expressly that no development should be permitted outside the settlement boundary and that any development outside that boundary would be contrary to Policy 1 in the Plan, thus engaging the presumption in favour of the development plan in section 38(6) of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004: 
 
“If regard is to be had to the development plan for the purpose of any determination to be made under the planning Acts the determination must be made in accordance with the plan unless material considerations indicate otherwise”.
 
The Parish Council also submitted that the construction of the Plan as preventing development outside the settlement boundary was clear from the context of the “making” of the plan against a background of grants of permission for 1000 dwellings on five sites outside the former settlement boundary, which was then redrawn to form the new boundary in the Neighbourhood Plan, see eg para. 4.5 of the supporting text to Policy 1,:
 
“…Therefore, the general approach in the Thurston Neighbourhood Plan is that growth will be focused on the sites with planning permission (which are located within the amended settlement boundary) and on small scale infill sites within the settlement boundary”.
 
The Parish Council’s submissions set out in their petition can be found here.  
 
Meyric Lewis is acting for the Parish Council instructed by Bob McGeady of Ashtons Legal (ably assisted by his team: Sam Lees, James Myers and Kurt Glencastle).  Kate Olley was instructed for the interested party, Bloors.