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Community group challenges grant of permission for extension of industrial site

A community group is crowdfunding a legal challenge to the grant of planning permission for further development at an industrial site, which the claimants argue could lead to the loss of more than 150 acres of historical open space.

On 29 March 2017 East Northamptonshire Council’s development management committee approved plans for phase three of Warth Park, an industrial complex overlooking the town of Raunds and village of Stanwick.

On 19 June 2017 a claim was lodged with the High Court asking for the planning approval granted to the developers to be judicially reviewed and quashed on the following grounds:

  1. The council unlawfully had regard to an immaterial consideration; namely the council unlawfully had regard to the risk of an appeal, pursuant to s.78 Town and Country Planning Act 1990, against the refusal of planning permission and the cost risk involved. It took the wrong approach to determining whether or not to grant planning permission; and 
  2. Officers materially misdirected members of the council’s planning committee in stating that no weight could be attached to policy R6 of the emerging Raunds Neighbourhood Plan.

The claimant uses land, which will be affected by the development, for her horses. Law firm Richard Buxton Environmental & Public Law is advising her.

Richard Buxton said: "The council was clearly worried about the status of the draft Raunds Neighbourhood Plan which has the area that would be taken by the expanded Warth Park designated as “protected open space|”. It made the mistake.... that this meant there had to be public access: for the area to be made into a sort of park. That was quite wrong. The area was simply to be protected as open countryside. As for the possibility of appeal it is quite wrong for councillors to be influenced in the way they were here."

So far £6,320 has been raised towards a target of £10,000 for the challenge via the Crowd Justice site. The claimant is also seeking legal aid funding to cover a percentage of the costs.