Residents Against Waste Site Ltd (RAWS), a limited company formed to represent the interests of local objectors to the development of a waste technology plant on a 14.6 hectare site at Farrington Moss, Leyland in Lancashire sought judicial of a decision of Lancashire County Council (LCC) to grant planning permission for the plant.

The substantive grounds of challenge, asserted by RAWS, were that:

1. LCC acted unlawfully in that it failed to give effect to its obligations set out in paragraph 4 of schedule 4 of the Waste management regulations 1994, which sets out the relevant objectives in relation to the disposal and recovery of waste.

“For the purposes of this schedule the following objectives are relevant objectives in relation to the disposal or recovery of waste – (a) ensuring that waste is recovered or disposed of without endangering health and without using processes or methods which could harm the environment and in particular without – (i) risk to water, air, soil, plants or animals; or (ii) causing nuisance through noise or odours.”

2. LCC unlawfully failed to secure the traffic routeing around and to the site which the application for planning permission, and the council as planning authority, had recognised to be critical.

The Judge dismissed claims by LCC that RAWS lacked “standing to bring the claim” and held that RAWS’s application for judicial review was not ruled out on grounds of time.

With respect to the first ground of challenge it was held that RAWS failed to demonstrate that the LCC paid no or no sufficient attention to the relevant objectives in reaching their decision.

However, with respect to the second ground of challenge although the Judge ruled that LCC had unlawfully failed to secure lorry traffic routeing in granting planning consent, thus affording RAWS leave to proceed to judicial review on this narrow ground, substantive relief had already been given in the form of an undertaking given by LCC to create such a planning obligation.

The full text of the case above is available follow the link.

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