Kirklees Council’s decision to grant planning permission for a 181 development at Heybeck Lane near Dewsbury has been overturned in a judicial review.
The seven hectare site, which is bordered by ancient woodland, makes up part of a much larger development plan for around 1,500 homes. This is split across two sites at Chidswell and Heybeck. Despite its controversy, outline planning permission was secured for the Heybeck site last October, with this the subject of the recent review.
The Chidswell Action Group (CAG) raised numerous points of concern throughout the planning process and applied for the judicial review against Kirklees Council on 25 November. The outcome of which has now been published, going in the group’s favour.
The Church Commissioners for England – the developer – were also engaged in the legal process as an Interested Party. The community had raised over £20,000 to bring the Judicial Review (JR) to the High Court.
CAG’s challenge was granted permission on the grounds of: out-of-date ecological surveys and an inaccurate Biodiversity Net Gain assessment. CAG then sought permission to add a further ground (the fifth ground): failure to publish the section 106 agreements in advance of the planning permission, which would have allowed objectors to comment on the defects in the Section 106 agreements.
The Hon Mr Justice Kerr allowed CAG’s claim on the fifth ground.
Speaking on behalf of CAG, Chairman, Jim Aveyard, said “It took a huge amount of work to apply for the JR but this judgement has proven it was time and effort well spent. This has been a victory for local democracy and a real David and Goliath battle. The JR process is extremely complex and expensive; we could not have done this without our expert legal team and the generous support of our community.”
Group Secretary, Sally Naylor, added: “On the day of the hearing, we attended with our lone Barrister while Kirklees Council and the Church Commissioners were represented by three Barristers and a legal team from two solicitors’ firms.
“This has been the first time in this process that we’ve had an independent review on the planning application. We’ve worked tirelessly over many years to collect the evidence of the protected wildlife which the Church Commissioners deny are on site. Our evidence has been robust, extensive and meticulously recorded.”
The group has been supported by Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, the CPRE and the Woodland Trust who all objected to the application. CAG claims that the comments of such organisations have been disregarded or ignored. The group says there are still protected species like breeding otters, kingfishers and barn owls, not mentioned in the ecological surveys and that it “will not rest” until the area gets the correct recognition.
Responding to the outcome of the review, a Kirklees Council spokesperson, said: “The council is considering the judgement and notes that decisions on substantive planning issues such as biodiversity were not overturned in this case. Of course, we will reflect on the judgement as it relates to the procedural aspects of our handling of the application.”
