Court of Appeal win over West Yorkshire housing development

THE Court of Appeal has ordered a judicial review of a proposed development in West Yorkshire.

The Menston Action Group raised £100,000 and appointed a litigation team from Schofield Sweeney, led by partner Alistair Kennedy to prevent Barratt Homes proposals to build 176 homes at Derry Hill in Menston village.

Barratt Homes was given planning permission subject to various conditions, including a requirement to submit a drainage scheme for the development based upon sustainable drainage principles.

A scheme was submitted in early 2014 and was approved by Bradford Council last August. It is that decision, to approve Barratt’s scheme and find it compliant with the drainage condition, which is being challenged by MAG.

Judicial Review proceedings were issued by Schofield Sweeney in September.

Following a full day hearing in the Administrative Court in Leeds in January, with David Wolfe QC appearing for MAG, the group was given permission to proceed with the claim on its second ground, challenging the validity of the procedure adopted by Bradford Council when making their decision.

MAG were refused permission to proceed with its primary ground, which is based upon a much wider issue of whether Barratt could put forward a drainage scheme appressing potential flooding.

The organisation appealed the refusal of permission and Lord Justice Sullivan in the Court of Appeal reversed the decision of the Leeds’ Court, giving MAG permission to proceed with their challenge on both grounds.

Lord Justice Sullivan noted that the challenge raised a question of wider public importance. It is believed that any substantive judgment on this issue will be ground-breaking and make new law.

Alistair Kennedy said:”This is a fantastic result for MAG. They have very serious concerns about ongoing flooding of the electricity substation adjacent to the Derry Hill site and have raised health and safety concerns.

“For the Court of Appeal to acknowledge the wider importance of this challenge and give MAG the opportunity to bring all of their concerns before a full hearing of the Administrative Court is very encouraging.

“Bradford Council and Barratt Homes are working hard to prop up the Council’s decision and defeat MAG’s claim, but this is the second recent success for MAG and we believe that the writing is on the wall.

“There is a lot of hard work to do from here for MAG and Schofield Sweeney, but we remain committed to ensuring that the interests of Menston residents are protected.”

Schofield Sweeney’s chairman, Chris Schofield, has been working with MAG from the beginning and has offered his time throughout free of charge.

The £100,000 raised has been able to pay for what has become complex and high profile High Court litigation.