Planning Extension

[nigel27]

A development of 70 houses close to me was recently granted an extension for the second time until Nov 2015. The first extension was granted in Jan 2010 for 3 years.I have read The Planning and Development ( Amendment) Act 2010 that was signed into law in July 2010. It states:
Extension of Planning Permission
Under the new act you can now get an extension of planning permission for up to five years where the development has not gone ahead because of “commercial, economic or technical” issues beyond the control of the applicant. This provision will obviously be extremely important to developers in the current economic climate where many developments have come to a standstill or work has not commenced due to lack of funding. Under the new act you can only get an extension once and cannot apply for a second extension.
My question is why can this applicant get a second extension and also it is also exceeds the 5 year period?
Extension 1 - Jan 2010 to Jan 2013 - 36 months
Extension 2 - Jan 2013 to Nov 2015 - 34 months

 

[Dermot]

nigel 27 having read your post the developer has only got 4 years and 11 months if you include all of November 2015. It would appear you have miscalculated. Sorry

 

[nigel27]

sorry Dermot, how is it 4yrs and 11mths? First extension was for 3 years and the second is just short of 3 years

 

[Dermot]

I apologise nigel 27 my mistake. It would appear that you have a point

 

[Woodie]

If the new act is as you state nigel27 it seems like this planning should not have been extended. If the law is correct as you state, the fact that it was disregarded does not surprise me I have seen many cases where decisions flout the law and no one cares. My guess is it could be challenged if within time but no doubt a new planning application would be put in and granted again.