The High Court in London has ruled against a barn conversion development that would be accessed by crossing a runway.
The case was brought by Coventry Gliding Club, which was challenging a decision by Harborough District Council to allow a local landowner to convert a barn on a plot beside their airfield into a home.
According to the ruling, handed down by Mr Justice Swift, Coventry Gliding Club, which is based in Husbands Bosworth in Leicestershire, is a large and established club that has hosted a number of championships.
This year it hosted the British Gliding Association National Championship, a nine-day event, and in 2021 it is due to host the Women’s World Gliding Championship.
The runway has a cable winch at either end that, “in a matter of seconds” propels the glider to 60mph to launch it. When launched the cable is released and drops to the runway below.
The club is open seven days a week from April to September and three days a week October to March, but flying hours aren’t limited to opening hours.
Anyone trying to access the proposed barn conversion would have to use a track that crosses the runway. The gliding club challenged the granting of planning permission, arguing that the council failed to take this into account.
In his ruling, Mr Justice Swift agreed.
“There is no escape from the conclusion that both the likely impact of noise from the Gliding Club on those living in the property, and the risks to the safety of persons using the access track to go to and from the property, were relevant matters that the Council had to consider when deciding the application for prior approval,” the judge said in his ruling.
The judge said that “it is striking” that a witness statement from the council planning officer who recommended the permission, “doesn’t say anywhere” that the issue of safety was considered.
“In these circumstances, the Gliding Club’s claim succeeds,” he said.
However he said there must be another hearing to work out what the remedy should be.
Coventry Gliding Club Ltd v Harborough District Council and R&P Garner and Sons
Administrate Court (Swift J) 14 November 2019
Jenny Wigley (instructed by Keystone Law for the claimant
Jack Smyth (instructed by Legal Services, Harborough District Council) for the defendant
