Plans for a 330-home development in the market town of Wellington, Shropshire, remain on track after the High Court in London rejected a challenge from a local council.
In a ruling today, Mrs Justice Lang backed a government planning inspector’s decision to allow Gladman Developments Limited outline planning permission to develop 15 hectares of agricultural land on the edge of Wellington.
Gladman wants to build up to 330 dwellings and develop areas of green open space. The site is adjacent to Grade II listed Orleton Hall and its 25-hectare park and gardens.
Councillors at the Borough of Telford & Wrekin initially granted Gladman planning permission in 2014. At the time, the council thought it didn’t have a five-year supply of deliverable housing land.
However, it later reversed the decision when it decided that it did have enough supply after all. Gladman appealed the decision to a planning inspector who recommended that planning permission should be granted. In a hearing earlier this month, lawyers for the council asked Lang J to reverse the decision.
However, in her ruling, she refused, and backed the planning inspector’s interpretation.
One of the council’s arguments was that NPPF 12 reverses the presumption in favour of development when the development in question is on agricultural land and poorer quality land is available.
NPPF 12 says that “local planning authorities should take into account the economic and other benefits of the best and most versatile agricultural land. Where significant development of agricultural land is demonstrated to be necessary, local planning authorities should seek to use areas of poorer quality in preference to that of a higher quality.”
However Lang J ruled that “if after the application of the restrictive policy, the outcome was in favour of development, then the weighted presumption of development ‘resurfaces and can be applied’”.
Borough of Telford and Wrekin v S of S for Communities & Local Government and Gladman Developments Limited. Planning Court (Lang J) 1 December 2016
Timothy Jones (instructed by Telford & Wrekin Council) for the Claimant
Tim Buley (instructed by the Government Legal Department) for the First Defendant
Jonathan Easton (instructed by Irwin Mitchell) for the Second Defendant
