Planning Court rejects bid for second judicial review on hotel and golf scheme

An attempt by campaigners to secure a second judicial review in relation to a controversial hotel and golf course development in Surrey has failed.

Cherkley Campaign Limited (CCL) was looking to challenge Mole Valley District Council’s decision on 14 March 2013 to approve a landscape and ecological management plan pursuant to a condition imposed on the planning permission granted by the authority in September 2012.

The campaigners claimed Mole Valley should have required Longshot Cherkley, the developers of Cherkley Court near Leatherhead, to submit a further environmental statement before the plan could be approved.

According to Landmark Chambers – two of whose members (Christopher Katkowski QC and Robert Walton) acted for Longshot Cherkley – Mr Justice Jay in the Planning Court rejected the claimant’s arguments as an abuse of process, “the arguments having already been run and rejected as unarguable in April 2013 by Mr Justice Collins in the early stages of the well publicised claim brought by CCL against the council's decision to grant the planning permission”. 

The judge also held CCL's claim to be unarguable and brought out of time, the set said.

However, the campaign group said it regretted the judge’s ruling and that it was considering its options with its legal advisers.

“It remains our view that there was a serious breach of EU law and the courts should look at the point,” it argued. “Yesterday is far from the end of the road on this aspect of the case."

In August 2013 CCL was successful in the High Court in the first set of judicial review proceedings over the development of Cherkley Court, a Grade II listed French chateau style property that dates back to 1894 and which was once the country home of the Beaverbrook family.

However, this was overturned by the Court of Appeal in May this year.

CCL then applied for permission to take the case to the Supreme Court, which is yet to determine whether to hear the dispute.