Local Plan Judicial Reviews Dismissed, GBC to Continue Implementation

Published on: 4 Dec, 2019
Updated on: 5 Dec, 2019

By Martin Giles

Guildford Borough Council has announced in a short press statement that the Judicial Reviews of the Local Plan process have all been rejected.

James Whiteman, managing director of Guildford Borough Council said: “I can confirm that Sir Duncan Ouseley sitting as a High Court judge has dismissed all three challenges to Guildford’s adopted Local Plan.

“The council will continue its work to implement the plan.”

Karen Stevens at Blackwell Farm in 2013.

Karen Stevens a leading campaigner of the Save Hogs Back group said: “We are deeply disappointed that the High Court challenge of the Blackwell Farm site allocation had been unsuccessful.

“It is clear that the planning system is flawed and undemocratic, and that GBC has the right to do whatever it wants in terms of taking land out of greenbelt and deciding on the extent that it wants to grow the borough.

“The decisions made by Guildford Borough Council will not be good for Guildford and not good for future generations. If this Local Plan is built out, the borough will change out of all recognition – drivers will face gridlock on a daily basis, air quality will deteriorate, the beautiful, green approaches to the town will be swallowed up in urban sprawl, and views from the Hogs Back will be lost forever. It will be little comfort to say, ‘we told you so’.”

Cllr Joss Bigmore

Cllr Joss Bigmore (Christchurch) leader of the opposition R4GV group at GBC said: “It’s a sad but not altogether unexpected result. I think it is very important to remember that the failure of these JR’s does not in any way validate the political choices made in the construction of the Conservative Local Plan.

“The Judicial Reviews were not interested in finding out whether the Tory plan was the best possible, merely that the correct process was followed. I’m sure we will see lots of self-congratulatory nonsense from the usual suspects but the grown-ups will have to try and turn a dog’s dinner into something more palatable.”

Cllr Susan Parker

Cllr Susan Parker (Send) who, as leader of the Guildford Greenbelt Group, has been in the forefront of the campaigns to stop development of the green belt said: “It is a great shame that the JRs were lost – it is desperately sad and disappointing.

“There is substantial oversupply of housing in Guildford’s Local Plan (we have sites for 14,600 homes when our plan is to build 10,600) – there is and was no need to attack the green fields that surround the town.

“The High Court just considered whether or not due process was followed. It is a shame that Guildford Borough Council chose to defend the process – a different route could have been followed.

“The campaigners leading the judicial reviews were brave and principled, and it is a huge shame that Guildford Borough Council chose to fight on the same side as the developers rather than the community. We will now suffer years of planning blight here, with systemic oversupply. If anyone thinks this will result in affordable housing, they will be disappointed.”

Please check back for more reaction to this news.

Responses to Local Plan Judicial Reviews Dismissed, GBC to Continue Implementation

Mike Murphy Reply

December 5, 2019 at 4:05 pm

It looks as if Cllr Spooner’s dreadful invasion of our precious green belt has been endorsed by the Judiciary, what a surprise.

For the future, we must ensure that Mr Spooner never has control of our council again. It is sad that the Liberal “Democrats” on the GBC have just acted as Conservative clones and carried on their dreadful bullying tactics to keep this disgraceful plan on track.

We must all do our best to support the R4GV and the Guildford Greenbelt Group in their continued opposition to this disastrous Local Plan.