obliged to consider. Mr Mould pointed in this regard to R v Solihull Borough Council,
Ex parte Berkswell Parish Council (1999) 77 P. & C.R. 312, considering the
Berkswell Enclosure Act 1802. By analogy with that case, no party to the public
inquiry into the planning application advanced the alleged statutory restriction as a
material consideration which the planning decision maker must take into account and
evaluate. If and insofar as s. 8 of the 1900 Act may be found to impose an impediment
on the delivery of the Memorial in accordance with the planning permission, that is a
matter for those responsible for construction of the Memorial.
108. It is trite law that in deciding whether or not to recommend the grant of planning
permission the Inspector (and subsequently the Minister) were obliged to have regard
to material considerations (section 70(2) of the Town and Country Planning Act
1999).
109. I accept Mr Mould’s submissions to the extent that, in general terms, the grant of
planning permission sanctions the carrying out of a development which otherwise
would be in contravention of the statutory prohibition against, in general, the carrying
out of any development of land without planning permission. It establishes that the
construction of a scheme is satisfactory on planning grounds. That decision is without
prejudice to any further consents which may or may not be required for
implementation of the planning permission. Someone who obtains planning
permission may have to overcome any number of hurdles when seeking to implement
the permission.
110. However, in this case, when considering the credibility and viability of alternative
sites, the Inspector identified the deliverability of the proposal and, in particular its
timing as a material consideration meriting considerable weight:
“Timing
15.170 The HMC report is entitled ‘Britain’s Promise to
Remember’. Now, 75 years after the liberation of the camps,
for many in the Jewish community and most poignantly for
survivors themselves, this proposal heralds a commitment by
the British Government to fulfil the recommendations of the
HMC. As such, this would represent not only a commitment to
honour the memory of the millions lost to the Holocaust, but
also a testament to the courage and resilience of those who
survived it. This is a matter of importance and, though unusual
in planning terms, it is of material weight that such a monument
should be raised within the lifetime of at least some of those
survivors so that this commitment is seen to be honoured in
their living memory.
15.171 In the event the Minister was to refuse permission for
the UKHMLC in VTG, as BD points out, this would, in all
probability, not be the end of the project. It is suggested that
this would be a “beneficial outcome”, and that it would
probably be sited “at the Imperial War Museum or some other
more suitable site”. This may or may not be the case. What is
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