Approval for bus stop outside resident’s home quashed over failure to address privacy and safety concerns

The High Court quashed part of a planning authority's approval for a new bus stop outside a resident's home as part of a major bus corridor project. The applicant, who lives in a 19th-century cottage opening directly onto the pavement, argued that placing the bus stop at her doorstep would result in a significant and disproportionate impact on her privacy, safety, and enjoyment of her dwelling, especially as no other new bus stop in the scheme was directly in front of a residence. The court found that the planning authority failed to properly consider or provide adequate reasons for dismissing the applicant’s specific concerns, instead mischaracterising them as mere annoyance. The planning authority's reliance solely on technical methodology, without weighing the serious privacy and security implications for the applicant, was legally deficient. The order was provisionally limited to the section of the scheme affecting the applicant, with the remainder of the approval left intact.