Jones (Respondent) v The Welsh Ministers (Appellant)

Case summary

Case ID

UKSC/2025/0015

Parties

Appellant(s)

The Welsh Ministers

Respondent(s)

Marc Jones

Issue

Does section 67 of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 (“PCPA 2004”) and/or Regulation 25 of the Town and Country Planning (Local Development Plan) (Wales) Regulations 2005 (“2005 Regulations”) impose a duty on a local planning authority in Wales to adopt a local development plan which an Inspector has recommended for adoption?

Facts

The second respondent, Wrexham County Borough Council (“the Council”), is a local planning authority under the PCPA 2004. In 2012, the Council began the preparation of a local development plan (“LDP”), which sets out their planning objectives and policies in relation to the development and use of land in their area. On 18 April 2019, the Council submitted its LDP to the appellant, the Welsh Ministers, for independent examination. The Welsh Ministers appointed two Inspectors to examine the LDP. On 27 February 2023, the Inspectors produced their report. They recommended the adoption of the LDP with the modifications set out in their report. On 19 April 2023, the Council met to consider the Inspectors’ report. To assist their deliberations, the Council received an officers’ report which noted that the Council had received legal advice that the authority was legally obliged to adopt the LDP in the form recommended by the Inspectors. Nevertheless, the Council voted not to adopt the LDP. Various concerns were raised about the LDP, including the level of housing growth and the proportion of affordable housing to be provided. On 25 May 2023, the third to ninth respondents brought a claim for judicial review against the Council’s decision not to adopt the LDP. These respondents are developers with interests in sites allocated in the LDP. The Council offered no legal arguments in opposition to the judicial review and the High Court allowed the claim. On 31 January 2024, the first respondent to this appeal, Mr Marc Jones, who is a member of the Council, applied to be added as a party to the proceedings and applied to the Court of Appeal for permission to appeal. The Welsh Ministers also joined the proceedings at this stage. The Court of Appeal allowed Mr Jones’s appeal, holding that the PCPA 2004 and the 2005 Regulations do not impose a duty on local planning authorities to adopt a LDP which has been recommended for adoption by the Inspectors. The Welsh Ministers now appeal to the Supreme Court.

Date of issue

29 January 2025

Case origin

PTA

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