Persimmon loses dispute over rival 1,000 home Oxfordshire scheme

Persimmon has lost a court dispute that called for plans for a rival 1,000-home development near Banbury, Oxfordshire, to be called in by the government. The High Court has rejected the housebuilder’s challenge to the decision of the then deputy prime minister John Prescott not to review plans that it said will affect the planning prospects for its rival 400-home plan. In 2005, Hallam Land Management and builder JJ Gallagher submitted plans to Cherwell Council for a development comprising 1,070 dwellings with associated facilities, including a primary school, playing fields, local shops and community facilities on 78ha of land south of Bankside road near Banbury. In March 2006, Prescott refused to call in the application and gave the council the all-clear to approve the application for the estate.  Prescott’s office said that there was no sufficient conflict with national planning policies and that the issue as to whether to grant permission could remain with the local planning authority. Applying for judicial review of that decision, Persimmon submitted that Prescott’s decision was “perverse and irrational”, that had failed to take into account national planning policy on “prematurity” and “public involvement” and the consequences of the decision on alternative sites. Dismissing the application, Sullivan J said that there was no reason to suppose that Prescott had not considered the matters raised by Persimmon and “although there was undoubtedly a very great deal of local opposition to the development, it was just that, local opposition raising no wider issues”. A public inquiry into Persimmon’s application for a 400-home scheme on a 27ha site near Banbury is due to be heard on 24 July. R (on the application of Persimmon Homes Ltd) v Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Administrative Court (Sullivan J) 11 July 2007 Martin Kingston QC and Satnam Choongh (instructed by Wragge & Co, of Birmingham) appeared for the claimant; Paul Brown and Lisa Busch (instructed by the Treasury Solicitor) appeared for the defendant; Richard Drabble QC and Graeme Keene (instructed by the legal department of Cherwell District Council) appeared for the council; Christopher Lockhart-Mummery QC (instructed by Denton Wilde Sapte) appeared for the applicant.