Barker Mill Estates, one of the largest landowners in Hampshire, has asked a London judge to quash a local development plan.
Barker Mill’s lawyer, Jeremy Cahill QC, said at a hearing today that Test Valley Borough Council’s development plan, introduced earlier this year, was flawed and should be rejected.
The council, he said, did not manage to meet the housing and employment planning needs it had itself identified when formulating the plan.
In particular, the council identified an objectively assessed housing need of 292 affordable homes per annum but, in its revised plan, said it was only going to provide 206.
“It is irrational,” Cahill told the judge, Holgate J.
Barker Mill is also seeking to quash the Secretary of State’s decision to refuse it outline planning permission to develop two sites at Adanac Park, near Southampton.
The local plan had allocated the land to be used as a strategic employment site for office, research and manufacturing. Barker Mills want to develop the land for storage and distribution, and general industry uses.
They allege the planning inspector erred in law.
The hearing is scheduled to last for two days, with a written judgment expected at a later date.
Trustees of the Barker Mills Estate v Secretary of State for Communites & Local Government and Test Valley Borough Council
Planning Court (Holgate J) 19 Oct 2016
