Dove J Quashes Permission for Retail Development

The High Court (Dove J) has quashed planning permission for a retail development in Horsham, West Sussex. The Claimant, Mr Haxby had challenged the permission on the grounds that the Council had failed (1) to have regard to an obviously material consideration, namely to assess and determine the application's transport and highway safety impacts cumulatively with another application for a cafe on the same site (2) to weigh the potential cumulative harm from both applications in the planning balance and (3) failed to provide adequate reasons for its decision in the officer report. The Defendant Council refused to concede on the grounds raised but instead conceded that it had made legal errors in that it had treated highways impacts and amenity impacts inconsistently. Highways impacts had been considered on an individual basis but amenity issues had been considered on a cumulative basis.

Dove J quashed the permission by order on 5 May 2022. A copy of the order can be seen here.

Daniel Stedman Jones acted on behalf of the successful Claimant, Mr Haxby, instructed by Irwin Mitchell.