Little Densole Farm, Kent Downs AONB

Mr Steer successfully obtained an order from Mrs Justice Lang quashing the planning permission for a holiday development proposed within the Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).

The case involved siting of 12 holiday lodges, a reception building, a store building, a fishing lake, a car park, tennis courts, play area, and a putting green in the Kent Downs AONB. Council officers had recommended refusal of the development, but members of the Council’s Planning Committee voted to approve it after a motion from one Councillor who stated that “all the reasons for refusal of the application, were [his] reasons for approval.”

Mr Steer challenged the Council’s decision to approve the application on the grounds that (1) the Council had failed to consider or apply the requirement in the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) that major developments in an AONB should only be approved in exceptional circumstances, (2) that the Council reached an irrational decision that the development would not harm the AONB, and (3) that the Committee failed to provide adequate and intelligible reasons for its decision to grant planning permission.

The Judge first considered whether to admit witness statements from Council officers which elaborated on the reasons the decision was made. The Judge ruled that these were not admissible, as they were ex post facto statements seeking to answer the Claimant’s criticisms in the litigation.

The Claimant was successful on ground 3. Applying the then-recent Supreme Court judgment in Dover District Council v CPRE Kent, the Judge found that the Council did not meet its common law duty to give reasons, because the committee minutes did not enable a reader to understand what conclusions were reached on this principal issue. The judge determined that, like in Dover DC, the defect in reasons went “to the heart of the justification for the planning permission and undermine[d] its validity.”

Marc Willers QC of Garden Court Chambers acted as counsel for the Claimant.