The owner of a medieval castle in Wingfield, Suffolk, has succeeded in his judicial review claim that the local authority was wrong to approve a barn conversion next door.
Michael Lyndon-Stanford QC had complained that Mid Suffolk District Council had granted planning permission and listed building consent for the redevelopment of the Castle Farm Barns, on a site adjacent to his moated Wingfield Castle, without properly considering the harm caused to his Grade I listed home.
And Deputy Judge John Howell QC ruled that the decision had been taken on the basis of “significantly misleading” reports that had misrepresented the history of Lyndon-Stanford’s efforts to acquire them and put them in good repair.
The reports, the judge said, created the impression that Lyndon-Stanford had had 10 years in which to take up offers to acquire them and preserve them.
In fact, the last offer made to him was in 2006, and it was withdrawn by the barns’ owners.
The judge said that Lyndon-Stanford had recently confirmed that he still wished to purchase the barns to preserve them as they are.
The moated Wingfield Castle can be traced as far back as 1385, and the barns, which are also of historic interest and are Grade II listed, formed part of the same property until they were sold in the 20th century. They have been placed on an at-risk register owing to their condition
The permission successfully challenged involved conversion of the barns to three dwellings.
Lyndon-Stanford v Mid-Suffolk District Council Planning Court (Deputy judge John Howell QC) 19 December 2016
