City council hails dismissal of judicial review into £44m community stadium project

City of York Council has welcomed a court’s dismissal of a judicial review challenge brought by a cinema operator over the grant of planning permission for a £44m stadium development.

Due for completion in late 2017, the Community Stadium project is intended to provide a home for the city’s professional football and rugby league teams and for athletics, amateur sports and leisure facilities including the cinema.

The dispute is understood to have centred on the council originally giving permission for a 12 screen cinema but then adding a thirteenth and an extra 400 seats.

Vue Cinemas, the claimant in the judicial review challenge, operates a rival cinema in the city.

A spokeswoman for City of York Council said the judge had found the decision-making process of the planning authority to be correct.

“We remain firmly committed to the delivery of this project,” the spokesman added. “We are reviewing the plan for the next stage with the GLL consortium and an update will be made to councillors in due course.

“This is a great step forward, but we will need to assess its impact on the timescales for the delivery of the project. This will be reviewed and the detail of the judgement considered before any further announcements are made.”