Paul Tucker QC and Philip Robson have secured planning permission for 120 residential units for David Wilson Homes on a site in Hatfield Peverel, Essex.
The result is a lesson in perserverance and responding quickly to the fast changing legal and policy context in which planning decisions are made. The application was called in by the Secretary of State in 2017 and the inquiry sat for 8 days in December 2017. The matters in dispute principally related to landscape, countryside impacts and planning. However, after the inquiry closed in January 2018 further submissions were made on the effect of the new NPPF; the calculation of housing need; and, the impact of the People Over Wind case.
Whilst a decision making process that takes over 18 months from flash to bang should be less common in the post-Rosewell world, this case highlights the importance of the team staying across the detail of the case in a rapidly changing context.
Paul and Philip were instructed by Jonathan Dixon, Director at Savills, who gave evidence on planning matters and Sean Marten, Planning Manager of David Wilson Homes. Further evidence was called on housing land supply from Matthew Spry, Senior Director at Lichfields; and, landscape evidence from Jeremy Smith, Director at SLR Consulting Ltd.
A copy of the application decision can be found here
