– Public consultation on draft Practice Direction
A draft Practice Direction is under consideration to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the Planning & Environment Court. Observations are sought on the attached draft. Where amendments are suggested, exact proposed text would be welcome. Any observations should be received at [email protected] by 16:00 on Friday 23 January 2026.
– New rules for the Planning and Environment Court
New rules for the Planning and Environment Court S.I. No 246 of 2025 have been signed and will come into effect on 18 June 2025.
– Duration of hearings and time allocation
Due to pressure of business the court will probably be unable to accommodate hearings of more than 12 hours in Michaelmas 2025.
If parties are anticipating seeking a longer time allocation, they might reflect on whether matters can be shortened and/or modularised in some productive manner.
– List of recurring cases and materials
In line with Practice Direction HC97, a list of some recurring cases and materials in the Planning & Environment Court of which the parties are deemed to be on notice—and which therefore need not be included in lists of authorities and may be referred to in judgments without being specifically cited—is now available for download at the end of the following Practice Direction 126 web page.
Parties are also reminded that the court is separately required to take judicial notice of various relevant pieces of law, some of which are referred to in the list of materials.
Finally, the court has a general entitlement to reference materials in a judgment not specifically cited or included in published lists such as the present one. If such separate material would change the result the court would otherwise arrive at, the parties would be given notice. In the absence of such notice, parties can assume that any such material reinforced rather than changed the result the court was otherwise minded to reach.
