Failure to weigh benefits of new school sees decision by inspector quashed

A planning inspector gave insufficient weight to the benefits a school to be provided by a developer would bring to a locality, the High Court has said.

Lang J dismissed six other grounds as unarguable but said the inspector should have correctly weighed the benefits of the school both to a new development and existing nearby residents.

The case was brought by developer Amstel Group Corporation against the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government and North Norfolk District Council.

Amstel had sought full planning permission for 71 homes near Sculthorpe and outline permission for up to 129.

North Norfolk refused permission because this would be a large housing estate in open countryside and that Sculthorpe lacked local services or facilities, which could be accessed only through increased local car traffic.

Amstel appealed and submitted a unilateral undertaking to provide land for community purposes including the school, which was to be built by the local diocese for £2.5m to which Amstel would contribute £372,609.

In Amstel Group Corporation v Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government & Anor [2018] EWHC 633 (Admin) Lang J said: “Regrettably I have concluded that the inspector fell into error here… he did correctly weigh in the balance the claimant's potential contribution to additional school places for the 50 pupils generated by the development, but he did not also weigh in the balance the benefits of a new school, which on the evidence, could provide improved and enlarged facilities, thus benefiting existing pupils as well as new ones.”

She added: “The weighing of benefits against harm is quintessentially a planning judgment for the decision-maker. I am not in a position to make the assumption that the outcome would have been the same had the Inspector adopted the correct approach.”