An inference that a consent authority considered a specific statutory precondition to its power to grant development consent will not normally be derived from material demonstrating only that the authority was aware of issues relevant to the merits of the application. The distinction between awareness of merit considerations and awareness of mandatory preconditions to the exercise of power is critical. General or local knowledge of councillors is insufficient to displace the inference of failure to consider a precondition where there is no reference to the precondition in the council's minutes, reports or materials.
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 42 later cases that cite this judgment.
1 of the 42 citing cases carry a classified treatment. How each court treated it is available to signed-in members.