Company C’s story
Jump to
Company C operated a motocross track on the site of their leisure park. When the local council told Company C that they must stop operating the track, Company C appealed that decision. The Planning Inspectorate held a public inquiry and decided that Company C should have planning permission to operate the track. When the local council challenged that decision in the High Court, the High Court said that the planning inspector’s decision had been flawed and quashed the decision to grant planning permission. That meant that Company C’s case had to be considered afresh.
The Planning Inspectorate told Company C that they had guidance enabling them to consider making a payment to meet the extra costs the company incurred in redetermining the case. Company C pursued the redetermination, believing that their costs would be met.
The Planning Inspectorate held a second public inquiry and decided that Company C must stop operating the motocross track. Company C then wrote to the Planning Inspectorate, claiming costs of £48,117 that they had spent pursuing the redetermination. In response, the Planning Inspectorate said that they had recently reviewed their policy and had decided it was not appropriate to offer payments, especially in a time of financial constraint, unless the Ombudsman recommended that they do so.
After the Ombudsman’s investigation, the Planning Inspectorate apologised to Company C and paid their costs of £40,294.30 with interest, and £250 in recognition that the Planning Inspectorate’s mistake had lost Company C the opportunity to mitigate some of their expenses.
