Planning case resolved through negotiations in Portishead

We acted for a resident concerned about the loss of coastal views from a modern infill development in Portishead and used an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) roundtable meeting to find a middle ground and settle a claim avoiding High Court statutory review matter proceedings. This was an example of ADR being used successfully in the planning system. We were able to remind other parties of the overriding objective and that the courts had started to encourage ADR most recently in the decision in Churchill v Merthyr Tydfil CBC [2023] EWCA Civ 1416. 

The ADR roundtable was collaborative looking at the scale of development within a permitted residential scheme where the scheme had been approved despite that the decision appeared to conflate overlooking and overbearing. They are distinct planning harms. The roundtable ADR process enabled all parties to consider an alternative scheme and avoid those harms and that removed the need for litigation but also to allowed a revised scheme to be consented and the applicant to bring forward an acceptable scheme of development.