Travis Perkins has failed in a bid to stop London’s oldest surviving timber yards from being turned into flats and shops.
The company had been fighting a court battle to stop landlord the Grosvenor Estate from redeveloping Newson’s Yard, in the heart of Belgravia. However, in a ruling at the High Court in London, a judge dismissed its case.
Newson’s Yard has been run as a timber yard since it was built in the 1840s and is probably the oldest operating timber yard in London. Travis Perkins has been operating it as a timber and builders’ merchants since the 1990s. It lies within the Belgravia Conservation Area.
According to a report cited by the judgment, it is a notable building. “The smell of the wood, together with the tall, almost ecclesiastical, look of the colonnaded aisles is an impressive and uplifting experience.”
Historic England has not listed the building, but recognises it as having a “strong local historical importance”, the ruling said.
Lawyers for Travis Perking argued that Westminster City Council made an error in law when it granted Grosvenor planning permission.
They said the council failed to take into account the harm that the proposed development would cause to the fabric of the yard building and that closing the timber yard would be bad for local consumers.
They also said the development was contrary to sections in both Westminster’s plan and the National Planning Policy Framework designed to protect heritage assets.
However, the judge hearing the case, Judge Jarman QC, disagreed that an error had occurred.
He said the planning committee that decided on the proposal was properly briefed and the report used to make the decision raised all the appropriate points.
“The report acknowledged that the yard as a structure had some significance… and Grosvenor’s acceptance of that position,” he said.
“It dealt with the impact of the proposed works on the structure, but properly pointed out the internal changes were not within planning control. The historic use of the yard was acknowledged and assessed. So too was the service which the yard provides, but it was properly pointed out that planning protection relates to class A1 retail use and not to specific retail businesses.
“Accordingly, the challenge fails on all three grounds. Although it forms no part of my reasons for coming to that conclusion, I draw a little comfort from the fact that one of the members of the committee voted against the application, citing among other reasons objections to the proposed changes to the retail units and the replacement of the yard’s glazed roof lantern.”
Travis Perkins asked for permission to appeal the ruling. The judge refused.
Travis Perkins (Properties) Ltd v Westminster City Council. Interested parties: Grosvenor Estate Belgravia; Hugh Richard Louis, duke of Westminster; Jeremy Henry Moore Newsum; Francis Alexander Scott
Planning Court (Judge Jarman QC) 3 November 2017
Mr Gregory Jones QC (instructed by Freeths LLP) for the claimant
Ms Saira Kabir Sheikh QC and Mr Cain Ormondroyd instructed by the defendant
Mr Christopher Katkowski QC and Mr Richard Moules (instructed by Ashurst LLP) for the first interested party
The other interested parties did not appear and were not represented
