The dispute over the development of the site of Londons former Crystal Palace, which was destroyed by fire in 1936, has moved to the Court of Appeal.
Local resident Diane Barker is seeking to overturn a High Court ruling that a decision by Bromley London Borough Council, giving the go ahead for an 18-screen multiplex cinema with 4,800 seats and a 950-space car park, was lawful.
The council’s earlier decision to give general outline planning permission for leisure, recreational and car-parking facilities is not under challenge.
The scheme, under which developer London & Regional Properties is to pay £6m to lease the 12 acre site from the council, has already been the subject of previous High Court disputes, in which protestors have argued that the proposals are inappropriate for the site.
In the Court of Appeal, Mrs Barker’s lawyers argued that the council’s decision to approve the cinema and car park was unlawful as the council had not complied with an environmental assessment requirements. This was rebutted by Timothy Strachan QC, counsel for the local authority.
Backing the councils stance, David Elvin QC, counsel for the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, said that the aspects of the development at the centre of the latest challenge were “reserved matters”, and were not, as a matter of law, regarded as planning applications. He argued that they constituted the working out of the details within the parameters already fixed by the planning permission.
The hearing continues.
Barkers Application for Judicial Review Court of Appeal (Brooke and Latham LJJ and Burton J) 30 October 2001.
Robert McCracken and James Pereira (instructed by Richard Buxton, of Cambridge) appeared for the Diane Barker; Timothy Straker QC and James Strachan (instructed by Bromley London Borough Council) appeared for Bromley London Borough Council; David Elvin QC and James Maurici (instructed by the Treasury Solicitor) appeared for the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions.
PLS News 1/11/01
