Council defeats Court of Appeal challenge to rugby and housing development

A planning dispute between a unitary and a parish council has ended with the Court of Appeal ruling in favour of a rugby club securing a new home.

Herefordshire Council gave outline planning permission in September 2012 to Hereford Rugby Club for development of grass and all weather sports pitches, a clubhouse, indoor training building, car parking and landscaping, which would be paid for by construction of 190 homes.

Hampton Bishop Parish Council brought a judicial review to challenge this on the grounds that Herefordshire had failed to comply with the duty under section 38(6) of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 to determine a planning application in accordance with the development plan and that it had improperly taken into account the club’s intention to sell its current ground – were the deal go ahead – to Herefordshire for £1.

But the Court of Appeal ruled in Herefordshire’s favour, with Lord Justice Richards rejecting arguments that planning committee members had been confused over the local plan.

On the matter of transferring the existing ground he said: “The heart of the matter, as it seems to me, is that the existing ground was going to be released as a direct result of the development for which planning permission was being sought.

“The future use of the ground was therefore one of the land use consequences of the very decision that the council was taking. The continuation of the ground's existing use for sport and recreation might have been a practical likelihood in any event but the transfer to the council, even without restriction, would help in practice to safeguard that outcome.

“All this is far removed from ‘buying’ planning permission. It fits comfortably within the requirement that the planning obligation be directly related to the development.”|

Herefordshire’s head of development management and environmental health Marc Willimont, said: The High Court agreed that the planning committee was presented the application in a fair and balanced manner and that committee members considered only material planning matters when coming to their decision.

“It is a pity that much time has been lost in the relocation of the rugby club, but I am pleased that the issue has been concluded.”

Mark Smulian