Whether interference with solar panels material planning consideration. Application by the claimant for judicial review of a planning permission granted by Medway Council for a rear extension to a building. Some of the claimant’s principal arguments related to the severe impact the extension would have on light received by his solar panels.
Held: The mitigation of climate change is a legitimate planning consideration. The categorisation of the solar panels as a purely private interest which should not be considered in the planning process was flawed. Therefore, Medway Council’s failure to take account of the impact of the proposed development on the solar panels was irrational and one which no reasonable authority could have taken. As a result, K’s planning permission was quashed.
Lane J
[2019] EWHC 1738 (Admin), [2019] WLR(D) 393
Bailii, WLRD
England and Wales
Planning, Environment, Land
Updated: 19 November 2021; Ref: scu.639701