Mansell v Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council
nationalarchives.gov.uk · 🏴 England
Mansell v Tonbridge and Malling Borough Council
Neutral citation: [2017] EWCA Civ 1314
Court: Court of Appeal (Civil Division)
Date: 2017-09-08
Judge: Lindblom LJ, Hickinbottom LJ and the Chancellor of the High Court
Outcome: Appeal dismissed.
Grounds: Councillors materially misled by the officer report; Fallback position
Principle (PlanningCore summary, not quoted text): The leading statement (at paragraph 42) of how the court treats officer reports. Reports are read fairly and with reasonable benevolence, as written for councillors who know the area, not as legal documents. A decision is unlawful because of the officer's advice only where, on a fair reading, the advice significantly misled members about something material to their decision, the error was not corrected before the vote, and without it the decision would or might have been different. Paragraph 27 sets out the fallback principles: a fallback is relevant if there is a real prospect of it being implemented (a possibility, not a probability), and its weight is a matter of planning judgement.
Curated: verified against the judgment on 2026-10-06
Source: https://caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ewca/civ/2017/1314
[Full text available on demand at: https://caselaw.nationalarchives.gov.uk]
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