The Court of
Appeal has once more provided judicial support for the statement in para 34 of
Circular 1/85 to the effect that the reasonableness of a Grampian-style
condition will in all cases depend on the likelihood of the subject-matter
being fulfilled within such time as to enable the development to be commenced
within the time-limit imposed by the planning permission.
In British
Railways Board v Secretary of State for the Environment [1993] 1 PLR
48 certain land necessary for road access, if the development were to be
permitted, was actually within the ownership of the local planning authority.
The authority objected, however, to making the land available for that
particular purpose. The appellant argued that planning permission should
nevertheless be granted incorporating a Grampian-style condition dealing
with the road access. The Court of Appeal, however, followed its own earlier
decision in Jones v Secretary of State for Wales [1990] 3 PLR 102 and held that, where there were no
reasonable prospects of the condition being satisfied in the circumstances, it
would be unreasonable to impose it. In the present case the condition of access
could not be fulfilled. The authority was unwilling to make the land available
for access and there was no power available to compel it to do so.
