National and local planning policy

Why is planning policy important?

The English and Welsh planning systems are plan-led, which means that the process of managing the development and use of land centres around policies set out in development plans, with planning applications being determined in accordance with those plans, unless material considerations indicate otherwise. See Practice Note: Determining planning applications—priority of the development plan. Planning policy in development plans:

  1. determines the type and location of development in an area

  2. helps to achieve key objectives of local planning authorities (LPAs), and

  3. helps to inform the process of determining planning applications and appeals

A planning application which accords with planning policy in the development plan is more likely to be granted permission than one which does not. Consequently, developers should take planning policy and guidance into account when preparing planning applications. Objectors against planning applications can also use policies to strengthen their arguments, where the planning application does not accord with development plan policies. See Practice Note: Planning policy in England.

Determination of applications in accordance with development plan

Section 70(2) of the Town and Country

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Local Government weekly highlights—22 May 2025

This week's edition of Local Government weekly highlights includes coverage of the Supreme Court judgment in Darwall v Dartmoor National Park Authority, confirming that section 10(1) of Dartmoor Commons Act confers a public right of access which extends to wild camping as a form of open-air recreation plus expert analysis of Vanhove v SSE and TRA, in which the High Court outlined the correct approach to be taken when considering an appeal against teaching prohibition orders; RP v Barnsley MDC, in which during an EHC Plan appeal, a bundle pagination error amounted to a procedural irregularity and error of law; the CA case of J v Bath and North East Somerset Council on the necessity of a DOLs order where all parties with parental responsibility consent; Tesco v SMBC, which considered the interpretation of the sequential test in retail planning; and Greenfields (IOW) Ltd v Isle of Wight Council, finding that failure to publish a section 106 agreement could put planning permission at risk. Case reports include R (Siderise Insulation Ltd) v The Mayor and Burgesses of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, in which the court granted permission for a judicial review of the LA’s decision to prohibit Siderise products in its construction projects based on an arguable inconsistency with PCR 2015; R (Stoke Mandeville Parish Council) v Buckinghamshire Council, in which the court quashed the LA’s decision granting planning permission for a residential development, finding that the LA misinterpreted the Vale of Aylesbury Local Plan Policy on loss of existing sports and recreation facilities; Ealing LBC v The Father, in which the court determined the best outcome for a child under a special guardianship order combined with a rare, co-existing care order to the LA; and Mayor and Commonality and Citizens of The City of London v 48th Street Holding Ltd, in which a debt claim brought by the City of London to recover unpaid non-domestic rates and for declaratory relief was dismissed. The weekly highlights also includes further updates on Public procurement, Education, Social care, Planning, Children’s social care, Governance, Pensions, Social housing, Licensing and Environmental law and climate change.

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