The long-running battle over plans to build a 4,800-seat cinema on the site of London’s Crystal Palace has moved to the House of Lords.
The law lords this week decided that they would grant an oral hearing to the main objector to the scheme, Bromley resident Diane Barker, to assess her case.
The preliminary hearing will be held in October. If Barker’s case – R. v London Borough of Bromley ex partae Barker – is successful the scheme could be declared illegal.
London & Regional was granted planning approval for the plans, which include an 18-screen cinema with seating for 4800 people and parking for 950 cars, in May 1999.
The scheme is planned for the site of the Crystal Palace, which burnt down in 1936.
Barker claims that Bromley council’s decision to approve the scheme was unlawful, as an environmental assessment had not been carried out.
But last November, the Appeal Court dismissed Barker’s claim and upheld a High Court ruling that the council was entitled to act as it did and to consider the full environmental effects of the proposed scheme later.
The House of Lords, which acts as the UK’s final court of appeal, delayed considering Barker’s case to allow Bromley time to put its own case together.
EGi News 29/07/02
