R (on the application of Luton and District Association for the Control of Aircraft Noise) (Appellant) v Secretary of State for Transport (Respondent)

Permission to Appeal application lodged

Case summary
Permission to Appeal
Previous proceedings

Case summary

Case ID

UKSC/2026/0089

Parties

Appellant(s)

Luton and District Association for the Control of Aircraft Noise

Respondent(s)

Secretary of State for Transport

London Luton Airport Limited

Issue

Does the Supreme Court have jurisdiction to determine an appeal against the refusal by the Court of Appeal of an application for extension of time to file an appeal, where the underlying application for permission to appeal is also refused without an assessment of its merits?

Facts

This appeal concerns an application for extension of time (“EoT”) to file an application for permission to appeal in legal proceedings. The EoT was sought by Luton and District Association for the Control of Aircraft Noise (“LDACAN”) after being unsuccessful in a claim for judicial review of the grant of development consent for a nationally significant infrastructure project (“NSIP”). The NSIP proceedings On 27 April 2023, London Luton Airport Limited (“LLAL”), the Interested Party, submitted an application for development consent for the expansion of London Luton Airport under the Planning Act 2008 (“2008 Act”) section 37(2). The proposed development, a NSIP, involves construction of a new passenger terminal and additional aircraft stands at the current operational airport in order to increase passenger capacity from 19 million passengers per annum to 32 million passengers per annum. LDACAN was an interested party in an examination of the proposed development. On 3 April 2025, the Secretary of State for Transport (“SoS”) issued a decision letter granting development consent for the proposed development (“the Decision”) and made a Development Consent Order (“DCO”) in exercise of powers under the 2008 Act. The DCO came into force on 24 April 2025. The overall effect of the DCO was to permit the expansion of Luton Airport to enable the increase in passenger capacity to 32 million per annum. LDACAN brought a claim for judicial review. On 4-5 November 2025, Lang J heard the challenge to the DCO. On 8 December 2025, she dismissed LDACAN’s claim for judicial review, refused permission to appeal, and ordered the appellant to pay the SoS’s capped costs. In advance of this, on 28 July 2025 an update to civil practice (paragraph 17.3 of Practice Direction (“PD”) 52D) had been published with effect from 1 October 2025 for appeal notices filed on or after that date. The effect was to reduce the time to file the appellant’s notice of appeal from 21 days to seven days for claims brought under section 13 or section 118 of the 2008 Act relating to NSIPs. In light of this change, LDACAN should have filed its notice of appeal on 15 December 2025, and the skeleton argument by 23 or 24 December 2025 depending on when the notice was sealed. LDACAN filed its unsealed notice, grounds, and skeleton argument on 24 December 2025. The EoT proceedings On 22 January 2026, LLAL notified the Court of Appeal that LDACAN had filed its application out of time without any EoT application. LDACAN applied for an EoT and relief from sanctions that day. On 4 February 2026, Holgate LJ ordered that LDACAN’s applications for EoT, relief from sanctions, and for permission to appeal be adjourned to a rolled-up hearing. After the hearing on 19 May 2026, the Court of Appeal refused LDACAN’s EoT application and stated that permission to appeal the decision of Lang J was therefore also refused but did not consider the merits of the permission to appeal application (“the EoT refusal”). On 28 May 2026, LDACAN applied to the Court of Appeal for permission to appeal the EoT refusal. On 2 June 2026, the Court of Appeal refused. LDACAN appeals the EoT refusal to the Supreme Court. The parties are in dispute as to the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court to entertain such an appeal where the Court of Appeal has refused permission to appeal the order of Lang J. The application has been issued subject to jurisdiction.