New Rules For Judicial Review Of Planning Decisions

The period within which a judicial review challenge to the grant of planning permission may be made is to be reduced from the current three month period to six weeks.

The government has now confirmed that the new Rules will come into effect from 1 July 2013. The new time period will apply to applications made to the Court where "the grounds to make the claim" arise from 1 July 2013. Planning permissions granted before this date will remain subject to the old judicial review time limit of three months.

Where there is an opportunity to delay the grant of planning permission (for example, where there is a resolution to grant planning permission which is subject to the completion of a s106 planning obligation), there may well be merit in delaying completion of that s106 obligation until after 1 July 2013 to ensure that the planning permission...