Issue details
Record of Officer Decision - Land North of Ledbury Viaduct
The appeal is against the refusal by the
Council, at its Planning Committee on 11th December 2019, to grant
planning permission for a mixed used development including the
erection for up to 625 homes (including affordable housing), up to
2.9 hectares of B1 employment land, a canal corridor, public open
space (including a linear park), access, drainage and ground
modelling works and other associated works. Planning reference
171532
The appeal is not concerned with the fact that the Planning
Committee resolved to refuse the grant of planning permission
contrary to officers recommendation. However, pursuing the defence
of the reasons for refusal by the Council could be seen as
unreasonable given there is no technical evidence to support the
grounds for refusal. It should also be noted that the Council is
having difficulty securing technical experts who would provide
their evidence in support of the Council’s decision to refuse
the planning application.
Regrettably, the legal advice of the Solicitor to the Council and
Monitoring Officer is to withdraw the ‘reasons for
refusal’ given by the Planning Committee on 11th December
2019 to both mitigate the reputational damage to the Council and to
limit the significant costs that the Council could incur.
It is likely that the Inquiry will still take place however the
Council will withdraw its reasons for refusal. The benefit of
agreeing to withdraw the reasons for refusal now is that the
Appellant’s costs incurred in the appeal should be
significantly reduced, the inquiry should be shorter, some expert
witnesses may not be required to attend and the Council’s
costs incurred in instructing technical experts will be
reduced
Decision type: Non-key
Decision status: Recommendations Approved
Notice of proposed decision first published: 24/02/2020
Decision due: 18 February 2020 by Solicitor to the Council
Contact: Claire Ward, Director of governance and law Email: Claire.Ward@herefordshire.gov.uk Tel: 01432 260657.
Decisions