On 15 May, Durham County Council applied for a Judicial Review, challenging the Inspector’s interim report on the Local Plan. The Defendant was the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (DCLG). The Court has now (24 September) approved a ‘Consent Order’ with DCLG accepting that the Inspector’s conduct of the Examination in Public of the Local Plan was procedurally unsound. The Inspector’s Interim Report is now withdrawn. However, the County Council has to withdraw the Local Plan, amend and refresh it and submit it to another Examination in Public. The Council’s Judicial Review Statement says:
“We now have a resolution which will see the inspector’s interim report quashed and a new examination held under a new inspector as soon as possible. To enable this to happen we will withdraw the plan before resubmitting an amended and refreshed version. This updated plan will proceed through a new public examination providing a further opportunity for all interested parties to have their views heard.”
The ‘Durham City Trust’ and the ‘Friends of the Durham Green Belt’ have issued a press release:
“Durham County Council has shocked campaigners from the City of Durham Trust and the Friends of the Durham Green Belt by withdrawing the controversial County Durham Plan. This means that plans for the future development of County Durham will remain in limbo for at least two more years.
Roger Cornwell, chair of the City of Durham Trust, commented: “Back in February an independent Planning Inspector gave the Council two options: either substantially amend the Plan or withdraw it. They rejected both and launched a high-level legal challenge to the Inspector’s advice. Here we are, more than six months later, and the County Council has ended up back where it started.”
He added “In many ways it is the worst of all worlds, because the County Council intends to produce merely an ‘amended and refreshed’ version of the withdrawn Plan instead of tackling the key faults identified by the Inspector. So there is a real risk that in two years’ time the new Inspector will find the same fundamental flaws and we will be no further forward.”
The decision to withdraw the County Durham Plan was made as part of a compromise deal struck between the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) and the County Council. As a result the DCLG has agreed to quash the Inspector’s highly critical Interim Report and in exchange the County Council has agreed to withdraw the Plan.
When the Inspector’s report was published both groups offered to work with the Council to fix the Plan. “Had the Council accepted our offer, we would be six months closer to having a County Durham Plan agreed”, said Kirsty Thomas, Chair of the Friends of the Durham Green Belt. “We are strongly in favour of sustainable development, and want a plan which would help the economic gains to be enjoyed by communities across the County rather than sacrificing the beauty and tranquillity of Durham City’s green belt.”
The DCLG has not conceded that any of the Inspector’s conclusions were wrong. The only point they have accepted is that the Inspector’s conduct of the public enquiry may have been procedurally unfair.”
The ‘Friends of the Durham Green Belt’ will be holding a demonstration on the steps of the Town Hall at 12noon on Saturday 26 September. They are asking local people to join them.
The ‘Chronicle’ has published a news story on this topic.
One Response to Judicial Review of Durham County Local Plan