Failure to consider the effect of a development on the setting of a listed building results in Planning Permission and Listed Building Consent Quashing
Planning and Environment, Public Law and Judicial Review
The High Court has quashed planning permission and listed building consent for the construction of an extension to a listed building in Hammersmith. The development involved a rear extension to a listed building included in a group listing of a row of large Georgian terraces and situated in the heart of a Conservation Area. Previous applications had been refused by the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham Council (and those refusals had been upheld on appeal) but on 29 July 2015 the Council approved a revised scheme. It considered that the extension would not have an adverse impact on the listed building or the Conservation Area. However the Claimants argued that Council had failed in the exercise of its statutory duty under section 66(1) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 because it had failed to consider the impact on the setting of the listed building. The Council resisted the judicial review application but, in granting permission on the papers in strident terms, Holgate J considered the Council’s case to contain a number of errors of law. In the light of the judge’s observations the Council was invited to submit to judgment which it duly did and on 22 December 2015 the permission and consent were both quashed.
The case highlights the need for local planning authorities to fully respect the statutory duties with regard to decisions that may affect listed buildings, their setting and conservation areas. Martin Edwards of Cornerstone Barristers, instructed by Anna Russell of LSR Solicitors and Planning Consultants and Malcolm Alsop of Alsop Verrill, acted for the successful claimants, Mr & Mrs Askins.
