R (Kides) v South Cambridgeshire District Council [2002] EWCA Civ 1370
Kides is a leading Court of Appeal authority on what happens when circumstances change after a planning committee has resolved to grant permission but before the decision notice is actually issued.
The case involved an unusually long gap of almost five years between the resolution in principle and the eventual grant of outline planning permission.
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- Neutral citation
- [2002] EWCA Civ 1370
- Court
- Court of Appeal (Civil Division)
- Judgment date
- 9th October 2002
- Judge
- Aldous LJ, Laws LJ and Jonathan Parker LJ
- Case number
- C 2001 2382
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The duty continues until the decision notice is issued
Section 70(2) requires the planning authority to have regard to the development plan and other material considerations when dealing with a planning application. The Court held that “dealing with” the application continues through to the final act of issuing the decision notice.
A committee resolution is therefore not a legal freeze-frame. Material changes arising before the permission is issued may still need to be considered.
Not every new matter requires another committee meeting
The Court rejected a rigid rule that every new material consideration must automatically send the application back to committee. What matters is whether, by the time the decision is issued, the authority has in fact had regard to all material considerations with the application in mind.
The delegated officer must act cautiously
Where a delegated officer becomes aware, or ought reasonably to become aware, of a new factor which might objectively be a material consideration, the authority must have regard to it before the application is finally determined.
The Court said that an officer can safely proceed without returning to committee only where satisfied that the authority is aware of the new factor, has considered it with the application in mind, and would — not merely might — reach the same decision on reconsideration.
Why Kides matters
Kides is particularly relevant where there is a long delay caused by a section 106 agreement, viability negotiations, amended policy, new appeal decisions or some other significant change between the committee resolution and the issue of permission.
The practical question is not simply “what did committee decide?” but “was the authority still entitled to issue the permission when it finally did so?”
Read the full Kides judgment
Planning Geek holds the approved Court of Appeal judgment in the protected case law library. Gold Members can open the PDF below.
Kides Case Law Page Updated: 11th September 2026