Out-Law News 1 min. read
12 May 2015, 3:10 pm
In decisions in October and December last year, Pickles refused permission for a 350-home development to the north east of the Wiltshire town of Devizes and 100 homes on the edge of the Staffordshire village of Rolleston on Dove.
Both appeals involved proposals which had been recommended for approval by a planning inspector in a neighbourhood planning area without a demonstrable five year supply of housing land. In both cases, Pickles had decided that allowing the appeals would undermine the neighbourhood planning process.
Developer Mactaggart and Mickel had proposed to build 350 homes and a local centre on farmland that was not allocated for development in the emerging Devizes Area Neighbourhood Plan (DANP). The communities secretary had agreed with planning inspector John Felgate that the proposal represented sustainable development that would help meet the outstanding local housing requirement, but had refused the appeal, giving "substantial weight to the proposal's non-conformity with the current draft DANP".
According to an article in Planning Magazine, Mactaggart and Mickel brought a legal challenge against Pickles' decision to block the development, "arguing that the reasoning in [Pickles'] decision letter was unclear, factually misconceived, inadequate and unlawful". The article said the communities secretary had elected not to contest the challenge.
Burton and South Derbyshire College, the applicants for the proposed development in Rolleston on Dove, also challenged Pickles' decision to refuse permission for their proposal. Pickles had said the proposal "would represent a large scale development that is not in a location that is explicitly provided for by the neighbourhood plan or required to be incorporated as a strategic requirement" and placed "very substantial weight" on the potential prejudicial effect of allowing the proposal.
According to barristers No5 Chambers, who represented the College, the communities secretary had consented to judgment in the case, conceding that "he acted unlawfully in failing to even mention the fact the site is a proposed allocation in the emerging local plan".
Both appeals will be remitted for re-determination by Pickles' successor as communities secretary, Greg Clark, who was appointed in prime minister David Cameron's cabinet reshuffle on Monday.