Peart, R (on the application of) v The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Facts

The claimant, Mr Peart, is a sheep farmer who holds grazing rights, known as "stints", over Burnhope Moor, an area of rough upland grassland in County Durham designated as a Special Area of Conservation and a Special Protection Area. Since 2005 he applied annually for payment under the Single Payment Scheme, established as part of the EU Common Agricultural Policy and administered by the Rural Payments Agency, contending that as a stint holder he was entitled to a share of the structural surplus grazing. The Agency refused, on the basis that he was not registered as an owner of the common in the ownership section of the register kept under the Commons Registration Act 1965, and calculated his entitlement solely by reference to his registered grazing rights. His stage 1 appeal was rejected on 25 November 2011; his stage 2 appeal, submitted in January 2012, was not determined until 5 June 2024. Following a review by the Independent Agricultural Appeals Panel, Minister Zeichner rejected his appeal on 19 December 2024. Judicial review was filed on 18 March 2025 and permission granted on all grounds. The claimant asserted Aarhus Convention costs protection; the defendant, having initially not disputed that status, later sought to challenge it. Various procedural applications came before the court.