A developer seeking planning approval for a housing scheme in Lymm, near Warrington, has successfully challenged a High Court decision requiring the return of its plans to the Secretary of State for a third consideration.
Warrington Borough Council first rejected the planning application in March 1999. The developer, Bryant Homes Technical Services, and trustees of the Linson Construction Pension Fund, Henry and Linda Rowlinson, unsuccessfully appealed to an inspector.
On appeal, the High Court returned the case to a second inspector, who granted permission for the scheme in September 2001. However, in a claim brought by the council in March 2002, Deputy Judge Sir Richard Tucker quashed the planning consent, and ordered that the matter be returned for a third consideration.
Pill LJ has now said that none of the deputy judges criticism was justified. He found that the inspector’s reasoning was “wholly persuasive and gave great weight to the apparent need for affordable housing, which had not been met”.
He further held that the inspector had given his reasons with “conspicuous care and clarity”, and that this was “not a case in which the court should interfere”.
The council have been ordered to pay Bryant Homes an interim payment of £10,000 towards its costs, and to repay a sum of £1,000 that the developer had paid the council for the costs of previous proceedings. The council have been refused permission to appeal to the House of Lords, although they may renew their application to appeal directly to the Law Lords.
Warrington Borough Council v Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions and others Court of Appeal (Pill, Judge and Hale LJJ) 21 November 2002.
Ian Dove and Bridget Forster (instructed by Daniels Haddon, of Manchester) appeared for the appellant; David Holgate and Colin Crawford (instructed by the solicitor to Warrington Borough Council) appeared for the respondents.
PLS News 21/11/02
