Isle of Man-based tycoon Albert Gubay’s Derwent Holdings has won a dispute with Liverpool City Council concerning an eyesore site in
On Friday, Mitting J dismissed the council’s appeal against a decision of Liverpool Crown Court finding that a notice served by the council forcing Derwent to clean up the demolition site had not been justified.
On 7 November 2005, the council served a notice on Derwent requiring the removal of materials that had resulted from the demolition of the Traveller’s Rest public house at
Two weeks later, a district judge dismissed Derwent’s challenge to that notice on the ground that the condition of the site was “seriously detrimental” to the amenities of the neighbourhood.
Meanwhile, an August 2006 Business Liverpool poll conducted by urban design company Taylor Young identified the site as being the third worst site in a “grot spot” report on the 100 poorest environmental/visual detractors in
Subsequently, a crown court judge overturned the district judge’s decision on the ground that the notice had not been justified.
The judge held that although the site was detrimental to the amenity of the neighbourhood, “the detriment was not serious in the circumstances disclosed by the evidence because a disinterested observer coming to the area would quickly form the view that it was an area ripe for development that was going through a usual stage in development”.
On appeal to the High Court, the council alleged that the judge had erred in law in determining a lack of justification for the notice.
However, Mitting J said that although the site was an eyesore and “if I had been deciding this case myself, I would have agreed with the view of the district judge. But that is not my task.
“The court applied the correct legal tests to the question it had to answer and reached a conclusion that it was entitled to reach.”
Liverpool City Council v Derwent
Nicholas Jackson (instructed by the legal department of Liverpool City Council) appeared for the appellant; Paul Tucker (instructed by Pannone LLP, of
