The Court of Appeal today overturned a ruling that, according to a barrister involved in the case, had the potential to erode the importance of Historic England in planning applications.
The long-running legal dispute is over plans to redevelop a Bexhill-on-Sea bowls club and rebuild it along with around 40 sheltered flats. Local resident Anne-Marie Loader has been fighting the plans, first mooted a decade ago, for years.
Last year, Patterson J ruled against her in the High Court, but today Lindblom LJ overturned Patterson J’s ruling and quashed planning permission for the project.
Although Lindblom LJ gave judgment today, he did not provide copies of the ruling, so the reasons behind the court’s decision were not made immediately available.
At a hearing in May, Loader’s barrister, Jenny Wigley, said Patterson J’s ruling was flawed.
While the judge agreed that the council had failed to consult English Heritage (now Historic England) about the development, she exercised her discretion not to quash planning permission, saying that, even if English Heritage had been properly consulted, it would not have altered the outcome.
In written arguments, Wigley criticised this finding on “an important point of principle”.
“It is submitted that the upholding of planning permission in these circumstances sets a dangerous precedent which sends a message that a local planning authority can freely substitute legally required statutory consideration with in-house consideration,” she said.
“The decision, in this case, denudes the statutory requirement of legal effect and ignores the legal status accorded to the views of statutory consultees.
“While the learned judge found that there had been comprehensive evaluation of the design, including comments from the defendant’s own expert conservation and design officer, this cannot be substituted for seeking (and paying due regard to) English Heritage’s expert views where there is a statutory duty to do so.”
Anne Marie Loader v Rother District Council, Court of Appeal (Laws LJ, King LJ, Lindblom LJ) 28 May 2016