Is there now a presumption that reasons be given for planning decisions? Within the last year, we have seen a surge of significant cases in which an absence of reasons being given for planning decisions has proved to be decisive. This happened despite the abolition in 2013 of the statutory duty to give reasons for the grant of planning permission. While the contexts have varied – ranging from delegated decisions, environmental impact assessment (EIA) development and planning committee decisions contrary to officer recommendation – the outcome has been the same each time: reasons for granting permission should be given.
This article was first published in Property Law Journal (March 2017) and is also available at http://www.lawjournals.co.uk/.
