DIY chain B&Q has succeeded in its High Court appeal against the government refusal of its plans to develop a new retail warehouse and garden centre in Charlton, South London.
B&Q had challenged the Secretary of State’s decision to reject the application for planning permission, made by the owner of the site at the junction of Anchor and Hope Lane and Woolwich Road, Charlton.
B&Q wants to develop a retail warehouse and garden centre on the site, together with a bulky goods stock area, restaurant premises and car parking.
Deputy Judge George Bartlett QC rejected all but one ground of B&Qs appeal. However, with regard to that ground, he said that the Secretary of State had failed to give adequate reasons for his decision in respect of what he found to be a substantial conflict between the scheme and the unitary development plan’s industrial and employment policies.
The judge said that, as the UDP’s policies had formed the basis of the Secretary of State’s refusal to sanction the scheme, in the circumstances, B&Q had been substantially prejudiced, and its appeal should accordingly be allowed.
B&Q plc v Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions Queen’s Bench Division (Mr George Bartlet QC, sitting as a deputy judge of the division) 18 March 2002.
PLS News 26/03/02
