Main v Swansea City Council & Ors (1985) 49 P&CR 26
The point in plain English: A serious defect in an ownership certificate can make a planning permission vulnerable to challenge, but that does not necessarily mean the permission is a complete nullity from day one.
What the Court of Appeal decided
The application site included a small but real area owned by an unidentified third party. The ownership certificate was therefore wrong and the required newspaper notice had not been given. The council had also failed to notify the Secretary of State under the highway consultation provisions then in force.
The Court of Appeal held that the defects were capable of vitiating the permission, but relief remained discretionary. On the facts, the long delay, the history of the permission and the position of other parties meant it was too late to quash it.
Why it still matters
The statutory forms have changed, but the case remains important when considering defective ownership certificates and the difference between an unlawful decision and one which is automatically a nullity. See our guide to ownership certificates.
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