Cases - J A Pye (Oxford) Estates Ltd v West Oxfordshire District Council and the Secretary of State for the Environment

Record details

Name

J A Pye (Oxford) Estates Ltd v West Oxfordshire District Council and the Secretary of State for the Environment

Date

[1982]

Citation

JPL 577

Keywords

Planning control

Summary

The judge rejected the appellant's claim that a burden of proof lay upon the local planning authority. He stated that the local planning authority will put forward what they consider to be sound and clear-cut planning reasons for refusal. The inquiry then inevitably takes the form of the appellant challenging the grounds and the authority defending them, but this should not lead to a comparison with civil litigation. The inspector's task is to consider the facts and contentions and determine whether there are any sound and clear-cut reasons for refusal. There is nothing objectionable in the inspector using such phrases as 'I am not satisfied that such a point has been made out', 'provided it is clear that it is in this overall context'.