Development Plans Have "Reasonable Prospect" Of Taking Off.

Tenants at an airfield contested their Landlord's notice to terminate their 1954 Act protected tenancies. The Landlord wished to promote the airfield site as a residential development. The Landlord served notice pursuant to ground (f) of the 1954 Act contesting renewal. This required the Landlord to demonstrate an intention to demolish/reconstruct the premises and also that it had a "reasonable prospect" of delivering upon that intention. The tenant argued that as the local authority's development plan was to retain and support aviation-related facilities at the airfield the necessary planning permission did not have a "reasonable prospect" of being obtained.

The High Court rejected the tenant's arguments and held that the development plan conferred a discretion on the decision maker not a mandatory obligation to retain airfield use. It also commented that planning control should not be used to force the landlord to reinstate aviation use.