Basildon BC v James & Ors

01 Jan 2018

Commercial and Regulatory, Property, Public Law and Judicial Review

Appeal to the Divisional Court by way of case stated. The Court accepted submissions by Steven Gasztowicz QC that where an administrative power is given to a Council under s18 of the Public Health Act 1925 it is for it to decide what objectives are to be considered and what to do. Although s8 of the Act gives persons aggrieved an apparently untrammelled right of appeal to the magistrates’ court, and whilst the test is not one of Wednesbury unreasonablenessĀ as such, it is not for a District Judge to take different objectives, or come to a different conclusion as to what is right. There must be an objective basis for saying the Council has gone wrong. The District Judge’s decision not to allow streets in the Council’s area to be renamed following redevelopment was accordingly set aside.