High Court Quashes Planning Permission over Section 106 Transparency Failings

In October 2024, Kirklees Council granted outline planning consent for a residential development on a seven-hectare greenfield site at Heybeck Lane, Dewsbury. The site forms part of a wider 120-hectare allocation for housing in the Council’s 2019 Local Plan.

 

However, the consent was later challenged by local campaigners, Chidswell Action Group, who argued that the Council had failed to meet its statutory duty under Article 40(3)(b) of the Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) Order 2015. This legislation requires local planning authorities to publish draft and final planning obligations — including Section 106 agreements — on their planning registers.

 

In the judgment handed down by Mr Justice Kerr last week, the court found that the failure to publish a draft Section 106 agreement ahead of the decision being made amounted to a serious lack of transparency. The judge accepted that this failure had caused “real prejudice” to local residents and stakeholders, including environmental consultees such as the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, who were denied the opportunity to comment meaningfully on the proposed obligations — particularly those relating to biodiversity and ecology.

 

Justice Kerr concluded that, had the draft Section 106 agreement been published prior to determination, it would likely have benefited from further public scrutiny and the committee might have requested updated ecological assessments before granting consent. As a result, the Court refused to withhold relief and quashed the planning permission.

 

This latest ruling yet again reiterates the importance of transparency in the planning process, particularly around the publication of Section 106 agreements.   Furthermore, it underlines the importance of adhering to statutory requirements in the interests of public engagement, accountability, and the robustness of the decision-making process.