Council's attempt to stop homes had 'no legal merit'

A council's attempt to challenge permission for a housing development had "no legal merit at all", a High Court judge said.

Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council refused permission for 270 homes in Wash Water, Hampshire, in April 2023.

Developer Bewley Homes appealed the decision and its Watermill Bridge development was given the go-ahead by a planning inspector in January.

But the authority took that to the High Court, with Mr Justice Holgate concluding it had no grounds for the appeal.

The council said the inspector had made an error and should have concluded that the plan did not meet the terms of the authority's planning policies.

But the judge said he was "certain" permission would have been given, regardless of the "putative legal error" alleged by the authority.

He added the conclusion should have been "no surprise", given the development had been expected to cause "relatively limited harm".

"Here [the council] plainly lost the appeal on the planning merits in a way which cannot be impugned," he added.

Andrew Brooks, Bewley Homes' managing director, said it was "delighted" with the verdict and that it was "damning" for the council.

“This decision also clearly identifies the failings of the local authority to deliver local housing and the undersupply of housing in this area for so many years," he said.

"This, coupled with the clear direction by the new government to build more housing, we hope will give current applications less unjustified resistance and be looked at more favourably."

Councillor Andy Konieczko, the council's cabinet member for planning and infrastructure, said it was "disappointed" by the outcome.

“Subsequent appeal decisions have confirmed that the Local Plan policies remain up to date and will protect sites that aren’t allocated in the plan from speculative development,” he added.

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