It has been reported that Stevenage Borough Council will try to persuade the High Court to overturn a planning inspector’s rejection of its plans to build more houses in the area.
Stevenage Borough Council’s expansion plans, which were part of the East of England Plan, were rejected because its housing targets were dependant on housing growth by North Hertfordshire District Council. However, following the Government’s announcement that it intended to abolish the Regional Strategies, North Hertfordshire District Council suspended work on the joint project. Further details are here.
During the inquiry into Stevenage Borough Council’s housing plans, North Hertfordshire District Council informed the planning inspector that its new plans would not provide for Stevenage’s planned growth, meaning that the growth of the town would be undeliverable.
However, in the long-running Cala Homes case, the Court of Appeal ruled that local councils cannot take into account the Government’s intention to abolish the Regional Strategies when formulating planning policies (although abolition was capable of being a “material consideration” on certain occasions.) This has formed the basis for Stevenage Borough Council’s legal challenge to the planning inspector’s decision.
