The recent u-turn by Eric Pickles on a residential-led mixed-use development in Cornwall offers a “glimpse of things to come”, planning experts have said.
The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government initially dismissed the called-in appeal against Cornwall county council’s refusal of planning permission for a mixed-use development, including 450 homes, at Binhamy Farm in Bude, Cornwall in August 2010.
His decision was subsequently quashed by the high court following Pickles’ announcement of the abolition of regional spatial strategies.
The re-issued decision allowing the appeal on 28 July this year – just three days after the publication of the draft National Planning Policy Framework – relied heavily on the Ministerial Statement for Planning Growth published in March to help justify the Secretary of State’s u-turn.
Oliver Martin and Holly Trotman of law firm Irwin Mitchell said the decision offered a “glimpse of things to come”.
They added: “The prominence of the growth agenda appears to offer a window of opportunity for developers to secure permission for sustainable schemes where local authorities have not made sufficient progress with their development plans. We expect to see more decisions like this in the coming months.”
christian.metcalfe@estatesgazette.com
