Parish council issues letter before claim over borough plan for 150 homes on Green Belt

A parish council has said it will pursue a judicial review against Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council (WHBC) if it adopts its local plan today (12 October) over fears that the inclusion of two sites amounting to 150 homes would harm the Green Belt.

In a pre-action protocol letter, Northaw and Cuffley Parish Council claimed that the planning inspector erred in law and that the inclusion of the sites in the local plan breached a legitimate expectation.

The borough council previously decided not to include the two sites in the local plan because of a "high harm assessment" that their development would cause to the Green Belt in the area.

However, the planning inspector later found that including them in the local plan and removing the sites from the Green Belt was sound.

As a result, the council re-introduced the sites to the local plan, which it is now set to be approved at a full council meeting on 12 October.

The pre-action protocol letter, sent by international law firm Clifford Chance on behalf of the parish council, puts forward the following grounds:

• The inspector erred in law in finding the proposal to remove the two sites from the Green Belt was sound.
• The test for creating a legitimate expectation the council would remove the sites from the local plan is met as a result of a letter the council sent to the Prime Minister, which reads: "We believe it would be extremely irresponsible to risk an unsound plan, or to try to start again, but we have made a decision to remove these sites and will not reverse that decision."

The letter sets out a number of arguments under the ground that challenges the inspector's soundness finding.

First, it alleges that the inspector wrongly conflated landscape character and visual impact with contribution to Green Belt purposes.

Secondly, the letter claims that the inspector "failed adequately" to consider alternatives as required by the test of soundness itself and by para 142 of the NPPF, which requires consideration as to whether the removal of each specific parcel of land from the Green Belt is necessary.

Thirdly, it states that the inspector misinterpreted the definition of previously developed land in the NPPF in his report. The inspector concluded that one of the sites "is also previously developed land". But the letter before claim argues that this conclusion was wrong because land which is in agricultural use is not and cannot be previously developed land for the purposes of the NPPF.

A spokesperson for Northaw and Cuffley Parish Council said: "Should WHBC approve the plan, which is their current intention, then we would take further legal advice with a view to putting our case before a Court.

"We cannot predict the outcome either in terms of Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council's decision making or Court action. This whole saga is now reaching the end game and the approach the Parish Council is taking is the only meaningful action currently available. The Parish Council regrets that it may have to resort to litigation but believes this is the correct course of action to protect the long term interest of both the community and the environment."

A spokesperson for Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council said: "The Council is aware of a letter sent on behalf of Northaw and Cuffley Parish Council and will respond appropriately."

Adam Carey