Homes case: Judge speaks of 'substantial flaw"

3:26pm Thursday 24th July 2008

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HEREFORDSHIRE Council’s case for the homes near to Bullinghope fell because the authority did not fully address the reasons given by a government planning inspector in rejecting the site for housing.

The Hereford Times has seen a copy of the final judgement in which Mr Justice Collins says that this failure amounted to a “substantial flaw.”

Subsequently, the council failed to “carry out its duty” to give its reasons for re-instating the homes, after the inspector’s rejection.

That failure, ruled Justice Collins, led to a decision that, too, was flawed.

The ruling also criticises the council for lack of, or late, disclosure of material relevant to the case.

On the evidence, Justice Collins quashes the 300 home housing allocation for Bullinghope that the full council backed at a vote in February last year.

The case went to the High Court earlier this month. The Dinedor Hill Action Group claimed that the council manipulated its own planning and democratic processes to keep the homes at Bullinghope - initially to help cover the cost of the Rotherwas access road through developer contributions.

An inspector rejected the homes first backed by the council at a vote in 2006. The council then re-introduced the homes under a new development policy saying they were needed to meet a regional assessment of future housing needs.

This new application was backed by the full council at a vote in February last year.

It is the process of re-introduction that High Court has ruled as flawed.

Councillors will attempt to move a debate on the judgement when the full council meets tomorrow (Friday). Hereford Labour party has already called for the resignations of those councillors involved in the re-introduction.