Law Example Essay: The Decision Making Process

Law 3135 specimen essay extract with footnotes

For those of you who have not written a law essay before please note that, in law essays, footnotes appear at the foot of each page. Here is an extract from a student’s answer to a question which was set some years ago.

THE DECISION-MAKING PROCESS

The backbone of planning control is s.57 (1) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 , which states, “planning permission is required for the carrying out of any development of land.” S.55(1) TCPA 1990 provides us with the statutory definition of ‘development’, “the carrying out of building, engineering, mining or other operations in, on, over or under land, or the making of any material change in the use of any buildings or other land.” In order to decide whether to allow such development the decision-maker must have regard to s. 70(2) TCPA 1990, which states, “the authority shall have regard to the provisions of the development plan, so far as material to the application, and to any other material considerations.” The status of plans was enhanced by s.54A of the TCPA 1990 , now repealed by s.38(6) Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004, which states, “determination [of an application] must be made in accordance with the plan unless material considerations indicate otherwise.” Material considerations are numerous and varied. As stated in Stringer v Minister of Housing and Local Government, “any consideration which relates to the use and development of land is capable of being a planning consideration.” National planning policy is a particularly important material consideration. A decision-maker has discretion to weigh all factors before as he sees fit, although a decision is challengeable if he fails to take a relevant factor int...

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...historic nature and features of listed buildings but generally favour the conversion of Highgates. Horseshoe bats are a protected species under Schedule 5 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and also the Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c) Regulations 1994. E14 and E18 stress the importance of the protection of wildlife and the latter makes specific reference to WCA 1981. E1 is also of relevance, as such development (if granted) would preserve historical heritage.

PPG15 is of particular importance, “Generally the best way of securing the upkeep of historic buildings is to keep them in use… The best use will very often be the use for which the building was originally designed.” It goes on to state, “Achieving a proper balance between the special interest of a listed building and proposals for alterations… is rarely impossible, if reasonable flexibility and