South Oxfordshire District Council is celebrating a victory, with the news developers JS Bloor Homes and Hallam Land Management have lost their High Court Challenge to develop 210 homes in Crowmarsh Gifford.

In June 2009, the council refused planning permission for the development of 210 homes on land to the east of Benson Lane, Crowmarsh Gifford, Wallingford. The developers appealed to the Planning Inspectorate, the case was heard at a public inquiry held in November 2009 and the appeal was rejected in December 2009.

The developers went on to challenge the inspector's decision in the High Court, hoping to persuade Judge McKenna to quash the decision, which would require a new public inquiry to be held. However, Judge McKenna rejected all the grounds of challenge, and concluded that the inspector had been entitled to find against the developers. He stated: "To my mind this is an inherently artificial and misconceived challenge to the inspector's decision, which fails to give a fair reading to the decision letter as a whole and ignores those parts of the decision letter in which it is clear that the inspector concluded that the proposal did indeed conflict with the Development Plan as a whole."


The judge supported the inspector's conclusion that the 6,000 homes allocated in the South East Plan for Didcot should not be moved to other parts of the district, as suggested by the developers. This was good news for the council in the light of another recent planning appeal against developers Wates at Winterbrook, Wallingford. Although the council won this appeal, the planning inspector in this case questioned the council's position on Didcot’s growth. The High Court judgment vindicates the council's approach, and means that the majority of growth in South Oxfordshire should indeed be directed to Didcot in as set out in the South East Plan.

(CD/GK)