Supreme Court hears R (on the application of Fylde Coast Farms Ltd) v Fylde Borough Council
On 9 March 2021, the Supreme Court will hear R (on the application of Fylde Coast Farms Ltd) v Fylde Borough Council. The Court will consider the correct interpretation of section 61N of the Town and County Planning Act 1990 which provides for challenges to be brought against neighbourhood development orders and neighbourhood development plans.
In 2017, pursuant to s61N(1), the Appellant challenged the Council’s decision to make the St Anne’s on the Sea Town Council Neighbourhood Development Plan on the grounds that the Council failed to comply with the basic conditions set out in Schedule 4B to the 1990 Act and that the Council had acted unreasonably in failing to carry out an Appropriate Assessment.
The High Court accepted that the Appellant’s grounds were arguable. However, it refused to grant permission on the basis that the challenge could have & therefore should have been brought at an earlier stage under the provisions of s61N(2). The Court of Appeal upheld that decision.
The Supreme Court will now consider whether s61N precludes challenges to plans and orders at the time when those plans and orders are made, when such challenges could also have been brought at an earlier stage in the administrative process.
Estelle Dehon & John Fitzsimons are acting for the Appellant.
For more information, see HERE.
