Planning lawyer Martin Goodall’s planning law blog explored the issues around the CLG minister’s call to sue planning authorities.
Martin Goodall writes:
I missed Pickles’ performance on BBC’s Sunday Politics Show yesterday, but I nearly fell off my chair laughing when I read that he had advised disappointed would-be conservatory builders to sue their local councils if they prevent them from building their longed-for extensions by making an Article 4 Direction.
Uncle Eric doesn’t seem to be aware that it is a very well established principle of public policy, which is rigorously enforced by the courts, that local planning authorities cannot be sued for the manner in which they use their development management powers. As a planning lawyer, I quite frequently hear people who have been thoroughly messed about by a local planning authority declare that they are ‘going to sue the council for this’. I just have to explain patiently to them that they can’t.
For the full text see: LINK
