Development Plan challenge highlights rigid time periods

Bloor Homes was correct in arguing that the time period for bringing a challenge under the PCPA is six weeks starting on the date of its adoption, not the next day, the judge said.

A member of the public, Mr Hinde, had tried to challenge Rugby Borough Council's Development Plan Document because it removed a restriction which prevented development from taking place in the village where he lived.

He issued a claim seeking to quash the Development Plan Document under the PCPA but developer Bloor Homes, added as an interested party to the proceedings, applied to strike out Hinde's claim on procedural grounds as the six week challenge period had expired.

The High Court ruled that, on the proper construction of the PCPA, the period for bringing an application to challenge a Development Plan Document under Section 113 of the Act was six weeks starting on the date of its adoption, not the next day.

Hinde tried to argue that the Rule 2.8 of the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) should be invoked to modify the express time limit in statute. This Rule specifies that 'clear days' should be used when calculating time periods.

The judge, however, disagreed and held that the challenge period stipulated by the PCPA plainly fell outside the CPR. Where a statute "specified a certain time period for the bringing of an application", the CPR could not be used to allow an extension of that time period, he said.

"Whilst there [are] a number of similar formulae for the making of statutory challenges to planning decisions, there were also many differences which those practising in the fields of environmental and planning law had to be aware of,” the judge said.

He added that “Section 113 (4) ... [of the PCPA] was not a re-enactment of section 287 of [the Town and Country Planning Act 1990] but a replacement for it.” Hinde’s argument that the provisions in the PCPA on challenge should be construed in the same way as the provisions previously contained in the 1990 Act should be rejected. The statutory time limit specified for bringing a challenge against a Development Plan Document fell outside of the scope of Rule 2.8. 

However, the time period for bringing a challenge against the adoption of a development plan under the PCPA is six weeks starting on the date of its adoption. This is the time limit stipulated in the Act and it is "clear and unambiguous".