Certificate of lawfulness crowdfunding campaign hits target

A crowdfunding campaign to challenge a certificate of lawfulness for a 38-year-old planning permission has exceeded its target.

Michale Reynolds, a resident of Milverton, Somerset, has raised £5,975 having set a £5,500 stretch target. Mr Reynolds hopes to secure a QC’s opinion that it would be unlawful for Taunton Deane Borough Council to maintain certificate of lawfulness for development on a 10-acre greenfield near Milverton, which could allow a 1979 scheme for 70 executive houses to be built.

Mr Reynolds said in his explanation of the crowdfunding campaign: “While we have been provided with an interpretation of the meaning of Section 192(4) of the TCPA 1990 which effectively would render the certificate null and void, there does not appear to be any decided authority on the meaning of the section.

“We, therefore, seek the services of an eminent planning QC to review the papers concerned and to confirm, if possible, our interpretation of the TCPA 1990 in order that we can, once and for all, drive a stake through the heart of the certificate and ensure that it never rises again.”

A Taunton Deane spokeswoman said Milverton Parish Council had in 2008 asked for revocation of the certificate.  She said: “The council agreed to review the grant of the certificate with the assistance of counsel, and following a lengthy process during which both the parish council and the landowner had the opportunity to put forward evidence, a detailed formal decision was issued in May 2009 which concluded that there was no reason why the certificate should be revoked.”