Delay in the grant of planning permission
Once a council have resolved to grant planning permission, the issue of a section 106 agreement can often lead to unnecessarily long delays. Consequently, owners looking to develop or sell their land with the benefit of planning permission frequently suffer additional cost.
This issue came before the local government ombudsman in a case concerning the conduct of Restormel Borough Council (01/B/10755)*, which resulted in a substantial monetary award being made against them.
The scheme in question had been approved in February 2001, but the council did not send out a draft agreement until May of that year, with the agreement being concluded in October.
As is common in such situations, the developer had started work onsite despite the fact that the planning permission had not been issued. However, it was unable to sell the dwellings, since the prospective buyers would not purchase them without planning permission being in place. The ombudsman agreed that the delay was unacceptable; a period of 20 weeks had elapsed between the date of the resolution and the issue of the planning permission.
This case is a timely reminder that planning authorities must ensure that they are not causing unnecessary delay to planning permission applications.
From a developer’s point of view, any delay in completion poses other risks. Planning policy for an area could change, or new material considerations could arise, potentially changing the planning authority’s decision to the developer’s disadvantage.
Gill Castorina is an associate at Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker (Europe) LLP
* Editor’s note: To order a copy of this case, call the local government ombudsman office on 020 7217 4683.
Delay in the grant of planning permission
Once a council have resolved to grant planning permission, the issue of a section 106 agreement can often lead to unnecessarily long delays. Consequently, owners looking to develop or sell their land with the benefit of planning permission frequently suffer additional cost.
This issue came before the local government ombudsman in a case concerning the conduct of Restormel Borough Council (01/B/10755)*, which resulted in a substantial monetary award being made against them.
The scheme in question had been approved in February 2001, but the council did not send out a draft agreement until May of that year, with the agreement being concluded in October.
As is common in such situations, the developer had started work onsite despite the fact that the planning permission had not been issued. However, it was unable to sell the dwellings, since the prospective buyers would not purchase them without planning permission being in place. The ombudsman agreed that the delay was unacceptable; a period of 20 weeks had elapsed between the date of the resolution and the issue of the planning permission.
This case is a timely reminder that planning authorities must ensure that they are not causing unnecessary delay to planning permission applications.
From a developer’s point of view, any delay in completion poses other risks. Planning policy for an area could change, or new material considerations could arise, potentially changing the planning authority’s decision to the developer’s disadvantage.
Gill Castorina is an associate at Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker (Europe) LLP
* Editor’s note: To order a copy of this case, call the local government ombudsman office on 020 7217 4683.
