News and Resources
Below is a selection of news items, case notes, articles, books and papers authored by members of Chambers.
There is also a separate Archive of Inspector’s Reports in respect of applications to register new town or village greens.
Private Stables Not Liable to Business Rates: Corkish (VO) v Bigwood [2019] UKUT 191 (LC)
The Lands Chamber of the Upper Tribunal has found that an extensive equestrian complex at the home of Olympian Fiona Bigwood is 'domestic' and therefore not liable to business rates. The Tribunal gave helpful guidance on when stables, and other such buildings, would be considered to be an 'other appurtenance' so as to be classified as domestic property. It will be necessary in each case to consider whether the stable is 'intimately associated' with the main house so as to be 'part and parcel' with it and constituting an integral whole with it. The fact that the stables are large is not by itself an obstacle to a conclusion that they are domestic [61], [55]. It is necessary to look at the "nature and function of the buildings and other facilities themselves, their proximity to each other, and the general layout of the site." [54]. Function is a more important consideration than size [64]. The success with which a private equestrian pursues their activities is not relevant [65]. Read more
Meyric Lewis Appears for CPA at the IRWA International Education Conference 2019 in Portland Oregon
Meyric Lewis was delighted to appear again on behalf of the CPA at the IRWA International Education Conference 2019, this year in Portland, Oregon, in company with CPA Chair Jon Stott of Gateley Hamer and former CPA Chair Richard Asher of Savills. There was another record attendance at the IRWA’s annual conference with about 1300 delegates from the USA, Canada, Mexico, Australia, Nigeria, Uganda, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Japan and of course the UK. Read more
Airport to be Deregistered as Common Land
Blackbushe Airport was registered common land. This unusual state of affairs was because, after requisitioning during the Second World War, the land continued in use as a civil airfield and, upon derequisitioning in 1960, was not returned to use as a common. The current operators of the airport applied to remove the land from the register of common land on the basis that it lay within the curtilage of the terminal building (see paragraph 6 of Schedule 2 to the Commons Act 2006). The Open Spaces Society objected. The Inspector considered that whether the land was or was not within the curtilage of the control tower was a matter of fact and degree. In the circumstances, he decided that it was. More particularly he held that curtilage for the purposes of the Commons Act 2006 had the same meaning as it had in the Planning Acts. Following a recently decided case on the meaning of curtilage in the Planning Acts (Challenge Fencing [2019] EWHC 553 (Admin)), he held that it did not have to be an area ancillary to the terminal building and that there was no requirement for it to be a small area. Read more
New Judgment on NPPF Para 11(D) and Outdated Policies
Mr Justice Dove has handed down judgment in the case of Wavendon Properties v SSHCLG & Milton Keynes Council [2019] EWHC 1524 (Admin) dealing with a number of alleged misinterpretations of the provisions of the new National Planning Policy Framework. The main issue concerned the meaning of the phrase “the policies which are most important for determining the application are out-of-date” in paragraph 11(d) of the NPPF. This is a critical provision in the NPPF as it acts as a trigger for engaging the tilted balance. This provision differs from that in the former 2012 NPPF, which referred to the situation where “relevant policies are out‑of‑date”. Read more
Southbeats Festival Granted New Licence
At a packed hearing in front of Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council’s Licensing Sub-Committee, SBE Ltd we’re granted a licence for The Southbeats Festival 2019. The festival is now in its fourth year and has moved to a new site at The St Clere Estate in Sevenoaks. The licence application was opposed by 98 residents. The festival’s promoters employed Proud Events to assist with the running of the event. The licence was granted until 2am with a capacity of 15,000. Read more
FTB Barristers Acting on all Sides of the Riverside Energy Park DCO Hearings
The DCO issue specific hearings for the Riverside Energy Park have started in Bexley. The project is an integrated energy park (comprising waste energy recovery, waste anaerobic digestion, battery storage and solar generation) and an electrical connection to be built next to the applicant’s existing facility, the Riverside Resource Recovery Facility. Read more
Eastern Counties Leather Site - Success Confirmed With Full Award of Costs
The Inspector's decision on part of the historically contaminated former Eastern Counties Leather site (see earlier news item) has confirmed the grant of permission and granted the appellant a full award of costs. Read more
Stubbington Bypass CPO Confirmed by Secretary of State
The Secretary of State for Transport has confirmed the Stubbington Bypass Compulsory Purchase Order and Side Roads Order. The Orders, made by Hampshire County Council, underpin a £34m bypass road scheme around the village of Stubbington on the Gosport Peninsula, which is intended to unlock the economic potential of the area by improving access and reducing congestion, and to alleviate noise and air quality issues for local residents. Read more
Success on a Judicial Review Claim Issued 1 Year Out-of-Time
In Wardlaw v Milton Keynes Council & GUPI 6 Ltd (CO/669/2019), the Claimant, Mrs Wardlaw, sought permission one year out-of-time for judicial review (JR) of the decision of Milton Keynes Council to permit the demolition of a distribution warehouse and its replacement with a much larger warehouse. By mistake, the Council omitted thirteen conditions from the notice granting planning permission which its Development Control Committee (DCC) had decided should be included to protect the amenity of nearby residential occupiers. Read more
High Court Explains How People Over Wind Applies in UK in Two Leading Cases with FTB Barristers
The two joined cases, Crondall Parish Council v Secretary of State and Others (CO/3900/2018) and Canterbury City Council v Secretary of State (CO/3625/2018) are important for four reasons. First Crondall Parish Council was granted Aarhus costs protection by John Howell QC sitting as a deputy High Court Judge in a carefully reasoned judgement. Second Mr Justice Dove applied the approach of the European Court of Justice set out in Case C-323/17 People Over Wind rather than that of the Court of Appeal in Smyth (endorsing the Hart approach), to the relevance of mitigation to screening decisions about appropriate assessment (AA) in relation to Habitats and Birds Directive special protection sites. Third the same principle may well apply to screening decisions about EIA. Fourth the judge emphasised that the exercise of Champion discretion not to quash for justiciable errors did not permit courts to make their own planning judgements or strike new planning balances. Read more