Procedural blunder forces council to abandon statutory review challenge to approval of major development
Reading Borough Council has been forced to abandon a statutory review against the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Michael Gove, after it failed to serve its application to other parties in time.
The local authority lodged its application to the High Court challenging the lawfulness of the Secretary of State's decision to call in and grant outline planning permission for a major housing development south of the town's central train station.
The developers behind the scheme appealed against Reading's non-determination of its application in 2022.
The appeal was then recovered for the Secretary of State's determination.
A planning inspector consequently produced a report for the Secretary of State, which recommended dismissing the appeal and refusing permission for the development due to the impact on heritage assets and the development's impact on sunlight for neighbouring buildings.
Despite the recommendation, Gove approved the application, citing the scheme's beneficial use of brownfield land, provision of housing, and economic benefits.
Reading vowed to fight the decision, claiming Gove had ridden "roughshod over" and undermined the local democratic planning process.
The local authority announced it had applied to the High Court to bring a statutory review under section 288 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 in May.
However, it has since reported that, while its application to the High Court was handed in on time, "service to other parties was not completed on time, resulting in a technical breach of procedure".
It added: "While obviously disappointing, the council fully stands by its original grounds for refusal, which were upheld by an independent planning inspector.
"We would emphasise that the withdrawn legal challenge relates to an outline planning permission only, which means there need to be further applications submitted for approval.
"These applications will be considered on their merits."
Adam Carey
