Forest of Dean District Council unlawfully took account of payments promised by an applicant when it granted planning permission (PP) for a wind turbine, the High Court has ruled, and has quashed the consent.
The judge concluded that though the donations were to have been administered through a community benefit society they did not meet the criteria for materiality in case law as they were not designed to ameliorate any adverse impact of the development, and could be used for any purpose considered locally beneficial.
‘Simply being a contribution for community benefit related to a local strategy for health, social or cultural wellbeing does not make that contribution in and of itself material to a planning determination,” the judge noted, adding that he was “unable to accept that the fact that the proposal is community-led precludes or renders unnecessary an examination of the contributions associated with it to see whether or not they satisfy the legal requirements of being a material consideration in the planning decision”.
The judge continued: “I am satisfied…that the defendant was not entitled to take into account as a material consideration in their planning decision the offer of the local community donation made by the interested party as part of their proposal. As a consequence the decision which they reached was unlawful.”
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