Paragraph 87 of the NPPF provides, as did earlier policy, that inappropriate development is, by definition, harmful to the green belt and should not be approved except in very special circumstances. Paragraph 88 goes on to state that when a local planning authority (“LPA”) is considering any planning application, it should ensure that substantial weight is given to any harm to the green belt. “Very special circumstances” will not exist unless the potential harm to the green belt by reason of inappropriateness, and any other harm, is clearly outweighed by other considerations.
The decision of the Court of Appeal in Redhill Aerodrome Ltd v Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government [2014] EWCA Civ 186; [2014] PLSCS 292 confirms that the term “any other harm” in paragraph 88 includes not simply other harm to the green belt, but also non-green belt harm of a planning nature. The appeal judges went on to state also that non-green belt considerations, such as employment and economic advantages, could be included in the weighing exercise as “other considerations” when deciding whether “very special circumstances” existed to outweigh the presumption against inappropriate development in the green belt.
Now, in Veolia ES (UK) Ltd v Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government [2015] EWHC 91 (Admin); [2015] PLSCS 22, the High Court has applied that latter ruling. There, the claimant applied to quash the decision of the Secretary of State, who had called in the claimant’s planning application, to refuse planning permission for a waste management facility on green belt land. All parties accepted that the proposals amounted to inappropriate development, for which planning permission could not be granted unless very special circumstances were demonstrated clearly outweighing the harm to the green belt, and any other harm.
The court allowed the application, and quashed the Secretary of State’s decision. It held that he had erred in failing to take into account a number of considerations in striking the “very special circumstances” balance. These largely arose from the examination of the waste site allocations local plan, and included (1) the fact that the plan was about to become part of the statutory development plan (2) the recognition by the examination inspector that there were exceptional circumstances justifying the allocation of the site for a waste management facility on green belt land and (3) the acknowledgment that site would be deleted from the green belt in a future review of the plan.
John Martin
