The Cayman Islands Grand Court has allowed a claim for judicial review and ordered the quashing of the Central Planning Authority’s decision to grant retrospective planning permission for a road through the habitat of the endangered blue iguana. The Court held that the Planning Authority had again breached environmental protection legislation, following an earlier decision of the Cayman Islands Court of Appeal.
The Grand Court held that the Central Planning Authority’s attempts to undo its errors by “modifying” the planning permission so as to reopen the application for planning permission were based on a misunderstanding of the Development and Planning Act. It is not possible to reopen an application for planning permission using the power of modification and the Planning Authority has no power to revoke a permission for completed development. The Planning Authority’s errors in granting permission for the road could only be corrected through a quashing order. The National Conservation Council had proposed a consensual quashing order in pre-action correspondence in an effort to avoid the costs of the proceedings but the Planning Authority had declined that proposal.
Chris Buttler KC represented the National Conservation Council, instructed by Kate McClymont from Nelsons Legal.
Click here for the full judgment.