Land Off Greens Lane, Downholland, Lydiate, L31 4HZ

Land Off Greens Lane, Downholland, Lydiate, L31 4HZ — West Lancashire District Council — Costs Decision Site visit made on 6 July 2021 by J Williamson BSc (Hons) MPlan MRTPI an Inspector appointed by the Secretary of State Decision date: 06 August 2021 Costs application in relation to Appeal Ref: APP/P2365/W/21/3271044 Land Off Greens Lane, Downholland • The application is made under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, sections 78, 322 and Schedule 6, and the Local Government Act 1972, section 250(5). • The application is made by Mr Molyneux for an award of costs against West Lancashire Borough Council. • The appeal is against refusal of an application for determination as to whether prior approval is required for a proposed agricultural building to be used for the storage of agricultural machinery and equipment. Decision 1. The application for an award of costs is refused. Procedural Matter 2. The applicant states on the application that he “claims his costs against the Council”. I understand this to mean that he is applying for a full award of costs. Notwithstanding, I have also considered whether a partial award would be justified. Reasons 3.

Land Off Greens Lane, Downholland, Lydiate, L31 4HZ — West Lancashire District Council — Costs Decision Irrespective of the outcome of an appeal, the National Planning Practice Guidance (PPG) advises that costs may be awarded where a party has behaved unreasonably, and the unreasonable behaviour has directly caused another party to incur unnecessary or wasted expense in the appeal process. Unreasonable behaviour may be procedural (relating to the process) or substantive (relating to the issues arising from the merits of the appeal). 4. The applicant considers an award of costs is justified due to the following “…in accordance with the National Planning Policy Guidance March 2014 for their unreasonable behaviour in acting contrary to established case law despite being provided with an up-to-date recent appeal decision. In addition, the Council misrepresented the appellant’s application.” 5. The PPG provides examples of the kinds of behaviour that may give rise to a substantive award of costs against a local planning authority, one of which is “acting contrary to, or not following, well-established case law”1. 1 PPG Paragraph: 047 Reference ID: 16-047-20140306; Revision date: 06 03 2014 https://www.gov.uk/planning-inspectorate

Land Off Greens Lane, Downholland, Lydiate, L31 4HZ — West Lancashire District Council — Costs Decision Costs Decision APP/J4423/W/21/3266383 6. I note that the case law the appellant draws upon in support of his proposal pre-dates the Court of Appeal judgement in the New World Payphones Ltd v Westminster City Council [2019] EWCA Civ 2250 case2, in which, among other things, it was judged that to fall within a specified class of Permitted Development (PD), development must comply with the class description and satisfy the limitations and conditions unique to that class. 7. In light of the more recent case law than that relied on by the appellant, I consider that the Council did not behave unreasonably in refusing the appellant’s application for the reasons it did so. I also consider that the Council had legitimate concerns regarding the use of the land and the proposed building the subjects of the appeal; as such, I do not consider that the Council misrepresented the appellant’s application. 8. I therefore conclude that it has not been demonstrated that the Council behaved unreasonably in respect of procedural or substantive matters associated with the determination of application Ref 2021/0143/PNP.

Land Off Greens Lane, Downholland, Lydiate, L31 4HZ — West Lancashire District Council — Costs Decision Consequently, there has not been any unreasonable behaviour which caused the applicant to incur unnecessary or wasted expense in the appeal process, as described in the PPG. Therefore, an award of costs is not justified.

Land Off Greens Lane, Downholland, Lydiate, L31 4HZ — West Lancashire District Council — J Williamson INSPECTOR 2 New World Payphones Ltd v Westminster City Council [2019] EWCA Civ 2250, published 18/12/19 https://www.gov.uk/planning-inspectorate 2