Costs awarded against Gwynedd Council

Gwynedd Council refused permission for the diversification projects at Nanhoron Farms. One was for boat storage and the other for an MOT testing station. Owen Devenport were called in following the initial refusals of planning permission and advised the client, Nanhoron Farms, that an appeal would be worthwhile on the basis of the Council's reasons for refusal, which solely related to Highway grounds. One of the decisions was supported by the officers but the other was a decision made by Councillors. An Informal Hearing was held and both appeals were dealt with concurrently.

At the Hearing no new cogent evidence was brought forward by the Council and so a decision was taken to also apply for costs as it was felt the Council had no case and were thus being 'unreasonable' within the definition as laid down in the relevant Government Circular. In his decision the Inspector allowed both appeals and considered that there was no objection on highway grounds. On the matter of costs the Inspector again fell on the side of the appellant and considered that in reaching these decisions an unnecessary appeal had been entered into and thus the Council had been unreasonable. He awarded full costs against the Council relating to the appeals process.