The authority sought compulsory purchase of land which adjoined a motorway. An agreement was made before the enquiry, but the inspector felt that others who were not represented would also be affected, and recommended rejection of the agreement. The Secretary of State proceeded, after substantial correspondence including with the objectors. The objectors complained that though affected they had not been given opportunity to object as required by the rules.
Held: For a breach of the rule to have taken place there had to be new material taken into account by the secretary which was causative of the decision, and that, if he had abided by rule 17(4), might have led to a different decision. In this case though the rule had been breached, the applicants could not show that they had been prejudiced in this way.
Citations:
Gazette 23-May-2002
Statutes:
Acquisition of Land Act 1981 23(2), Compulsory Purchase Rules 1990 17(4), Town and Country Planning Act 1990 266
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Land, Planning
Updated: 04 November 2022; Ref: scu.171267