A legal challenge to the disposal of surplus land north of Garnier Road, Winchester, to Hampshire County Council, for the provision of a park-and-ride car park on the site, has failed in the High Court.
Louise Wheeler, a member of the Winchester Meadows Conservation Alliance, brought the proceedings on the basis that the land, which formed part of the former A33 Winchester Bypass, until the bypass was stopped up in conjunction with the construction of the M3 motorway, should have first been offered for sale to its previous owners.
Stephen Cragg, counsel on her behalf, argued that, under the Crichel Down Rules, which lay down non-statutory guidelines for the disposal of government-owned land bought under compulsory purchase, the DoE could not demonstrate that a hotly-disputed need for a park-and-ride scheme represented a “very exceptional case” where there were “strong and urgent reasons of public interest” requiring the normal rules to be set aside.
Dismissing the challenge, Forbes J said there was nothing in the rules to suggest that exceptions to the practice of offering land back to former owners should only be made in cases where “life and limb” were at risk, and that there was nothing that could be said to be irrational in the way that the Secretary of State had arrived at his decision.
R v Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, ex parte Wheeler Queens Bench Division (Forbes J) 20 June 2000.
Stephen Cragg (instructed by Earthrights, of Takely, Essex) appeared for the applicant; John Litton (instructed by the Treasury Solicitor) appeared for the respondent.
PLS News 21/6/00
