Out-Law News 1 min. read
28 Jun 2013, 2:54 pm
South Somerset District Council had refused an application for a 58-home scheme in Wincanton by developer Hopkins Development Ltd in July 2011. Its reasons for refusal included that the scheme was not necessary to contribute to the Council's five year housing supply and that it would be detrimental to highway safety.
The developer appealed the refusal and the appeal was dismissed by an Inspector in August last year. Although the Inspector found that the Council did not have a five year housing supply, she said that the scheme would "unacceptably detract from the tranquil and rural character and appearance of the area" and that it would not be in a "particularly sustainable location".
The judge quashed the Inspector's decision, because he said she had been wrong to raise and take into account in her decision the effect of the proposal on the character and appearance of the area and whether the site was in a sustainable location. These issues had not been identified by the Inspector prior to the hearing, he said.
The judge said he did not believe that any evidence filed "really raised in any substantial way these issues" and that he did not think the developer had been "in some way on notice that character, appearance and sustainability were in issue such that they should have produced evidence about it".
"In my view therefore the failure of the inspector to notify the parties that these were significant issues as far as she was concerned and her failure to give in particular the applicants the opportunity of dealing with the points amounted to a failure to allow the applicants “a fair crack at the whip,” he said.
Hopkins Development welcomed the ruling and said that the decision rectified the "considerable failings that occurred as part of the previous appeal proceedings" in relation to the scheme.
"We have now begun to work proactively with both the district council and the County Highways Department to address concerns about the design of the access road that will serve the development," said Matthew Kendrick on behalf of the developer according to local reports.
"We hope permission will be granted soon either at council level or via a reconvened inquiry, to ensure this site is developed for much-needed housing in the district," he added.
