Town & country planning

The first defendant Secretary of State had differed from his inspector on a matter of fact and the reason why he had done so was because he had taken into account new evidence without having activated the Town and Country Planning (Inquiries Procedure) (England) Rules 2000, SI 2000/1624, r 17(5). The Planning Court, in allowing the claimant’s application to quash the Secretary of State’s refusal of planning permission, held that the Secretary of State could not show that the breach had made no difference to the outcome.