Herefordshire Council is considering making an appeal against a High Court ruling on a planning decision that upheld one of three claims in a legal challenge by the Dinedor Hill Action Association Limited.
The Association challenged a council decision in July 2006 to allocate land at Bullinghope for residential development was heard by the High Court in London on June 26 and 27.
Handing down his reserved judgment today, The Honourable Mr Justice Collins allowed only one of the Association's claims.
The Judge decided that the council should have more fully set out its reasons when allocating the land for residential development and quashed that part of the decision.
However he went on to reject the Association’s request to exclude the Bullinghope land from the wider city boundary. This means that because the land is within the new settlement boundary of the city of Hereford, the principle that residential development will be permitted remains.
The Judge further rejected the Association’s claim that a further public enquiry should be held, saying: “I do not think that the exercise by the council (sic) of its discretion not to hold an inquiry could be said to be irrational or flawed.”
The Dinedor Hill Action Association Ltd lodged the challenge on May 14, 2007, under Section 287 of the Town and Country Planning Act, against the allocation of land for housing at Bullinghope in the Herefordshire Council Unitary Development Plan and wanted the decision to be quashed.
Councillor John Jarvis, Herefordshire Council’s cabinet member for the environment and strategic housing, said: “In the light of this ruling, we first need to reflect fully upon the transcript of the judgment and then consider whether we should appeal against this decision.
"In essence, however, one wonders what the Association has achieved because the fact remains that the Bullinghope land is within the city settlement boundary and, in principle, the building of homes can still be permitted.
"Herefordshire will still need 17,800 new homes to be built in the next 12 years, with half of them within the Hereford city boundary, in order to satisfy future demand," he added.