Judicial Review
In September 2004, Wealden District Council received a claim for Judicial Review in respect of its decision to discontinue the process of producing a statutory local plan and in its place produce a Revised (Non-Statutory) Plan for the purposes of development control.
The Judge ruled in favour of the claimants and overturned the Council’s decision to produce a non-statutory local plan. The Council appealed the judgment and the Court of Appeal heard the case on 23 and 24 June 2005.
The Court of Appeal issued its judgement on 31 October 2005 (external link) when it allowed the Council’s appeal. Accordingly the Council were not required to pursue the making of a statutory local plan to a public inquiry and continued with the non-statutory plan.
The Court of Appeal refused the Claimants’ application for permission to appeal to the House of Lords.
At its meeting on 14 December 2005, the Council approved the Non-Statutory Wealden Local Plan 2005 as an Interim Guide for Development Control purposes. The Council did not progress this Plan any further through the statutory process.