ABSTRACT

Determination of the validity of applications for planning permission has tacitly been assumed to accord with s 62(b) which states that ‘... any application for planning permission ... shall include such particulars and be verified by such evidence as may be required by regulations or directions given by the local planning authority under them’. This interpretation was challenged in R v Secretary of State ex p Bath and North East Somerset District Council [1999] JPL B160. The case raised the issue of whether a local planning authority was the sole arbiter of what constitutes a valid application and, on appeal to the Secretary of State, whether a valid application had been submitted in the first instance.