When the Human Rights Act 1998 comes into force at the beginning of November 2000, there will almost certainly be a period when the law will have to do a great deal of growing up.
Traditionally, there have been relatively few cases involving claimants from England and Wales going to the European Court of Human Rights on planning matters. To start with, this has only been possible after all legal avenues within this country have been exhausted. The cost in pursuing these has been largely prohibitive. Consequently, the ability to pursue Human Rights arguments directly in this jurisdiction will undoubtedly be attractive to parties who have a grievance about planning or environmental matters but who have hitherto not been tempted to go to law.
