Gloucester City Council are asking the High Court to overturn a grant of conditional planning permission for the change of use of premises in a conservation area from Class A1 retail to use as an amusement centre.
A planning inspector found that the proposal would not harm the viability of the primary shopping area within Gloucester city centre, and he therefore granted permission for the Noble Organisation to use 25 Northgate Street, Gloucester, as an amusement centre.
In the High Court today, Richard Clayton QC, counsel for the local authority, said that the inspector had applied the wrong test in reaching his conclusion.
He argued that the inspector appeared to have “applied the test relevant to the conservation area issue” in finding that the proposal “would not harm” the viability of the shopping area. In doing this, he claimed, the inspector had “set himself a lower threshold against which to exercise his planning judgment”.
Mr Clayton maintained that the inspector should have applied the relevant policy S8 test in respect of the first draft deposit local plan. This, he said, applied a “different and higher threshold against which to apply planning judgment” because it required the inspector to consider whether the proposal would “sustain and enhance viability”.
However, Richard Phillips QC, counsel for Noble, said that the decision letter had to be read as a whole, and “must be considered in the light of the evidence as it emerged at the inquiry. When that is done, it is readily apparent that the inspector fully understood draft policy S8 and that his approach to it was both clear and lawful.”
The hearing continues.
Gloucester City Council v First Secretary of State and another Queen’s Bench Division: Administrative Court (Richards J) 10 March 2003.
Richard Clayton QC and Christian Zwart (instructed by Sharpe Pritchard, London agent for Gloucester City Council) appeared for the claimants; Jeremy Morgan (instructed by the Treasury Solicitor) appeared for the first defendant; Richard Phillips QC and Hereward Phillpot (instructed by Hay & Kilner, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne) appeared for the second defendant.
References: PLS News 10/3/03
