Is it lawful to share a draft planning officer’s report with an applicant?

Planning lawyers who act for developer applicants endeavour to ensure a draft planning report is accurate before it is issued in order to minimise any grounds for judicial review. A planning report is written by a planning officer which summarises the planning application, includes the relevant local policies, reviews the public and statutory feedback and provides a professional recommendation to the planning committee on whether to approve or refuse a project.

When a report is published before the planning committee, the developer applicant’s team can correct any errors spotted, either by the planning officer producing an addendum report or by delivering an oral update at committee. However, what happens when a planning officer shares a draft report with the applicant’s team before publication giving them an exclusive opportunity to input into the final version?

This is the question which was central in a case (R (Davis) v Isle of Wight Council [2026] EWHC 1718 (Admin)) recently considered by the High Court. A judicial review claim was brought by the claimant on whether it was unlawful for a local authority’s planning officer to share a draft version of her report with the applicant for planning permission, and then incorporate the applicant’s comments into the final report to the Council’s Planning Committee.

The High Court dismissed the claim on 8 July 2026, but the case provides useful guidance on the requirements of procedural fairness when sharing draft officer reports.

Background of the case: R (Davis) v Isle of Wight Council [2026]

The claimant challenged the Isle of Wight Council's planning permission for a renewable energy park, alleging unlawful sharing of a draft report with the applicant. The applicant’s advisors marked up the report in tracked changes/comments, some of which were subsequently incorporated into the report.

The claimant said that:

1. sharing a draft version of the report was a breach of the principles of natural justice; and
2. the marked-up version of the report should have been published on the Council’s planning register.

Court considered issues of the case

The issues in this case which the court had to consider were:

• Did the local authority's planning officer unlawfully share a draft report with the applicant, thereby breaching principles of natural justice and fairness in the planning process?
• Was the failure to include the draft report and related email as background papers in the planning documentation a breach of section 100D of the Local Government Act 1972, impacting the transparency of the decision-making process?
• Did the Claimant suffer material prejudice as a result of the alleged unfairness in the planning process, given the opportunities provided to comment on the final report?

What the Court ruled

The judgment provides useful guidance as to the requirements of procedural fairness when sharing draft officer reports, namely to ask:

• whether the planning officer exercised independent judgment into any comments received;
• whether the officer’s view was arrived at unprompted by any comments;
• the nature of the applicant’s comments (e.g. typographical corrections vs substantive comments);
• the degree of transparency around the assistance obtained;
• the fairness of the process as a whole, including whether third parties had an opportunity to make representations on the draft report and influence the decision-maker on the decision to be taken.

The court found:

• no procedural unfairness;
• the draft report was not classified as "background papers" (under section 100D of the Local Government Act 1972); and
• the claimant had sufficient opportunity to voice their objections.

Key takeaway

The judgment in this case should give further confidence to local planning authorities to share draft reports with an applicant’s team before publication to reduce uncorrected errors and any subsequent legal challenges. This can also limit the need for any addendum and reduces the length of time taken at committees thereby contributing to improving the efficiency of the planning process.

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