SoS entitled to refuse to call in planning application with air quality concerns (Shirley v SCLG)

Article summary

Planning analysis: In Shirley v SCLG, the court dismissed a challenge to a decision by the Secretary of State (SoS) not to call in a planning application under section 77 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (TCPA 1990) for his own determination. The SoS, as the competent authority under the Air Quality Directive (AQD), did not have a responsibility to use the s 77 power to call in planning applications under the AQD. It was not irrational for the SoS to point out that matters of substantive concern in relation to air quality remained to be addressed by the local planning authority.