Council chooses not to appeal High Court ruling

Herefordshire Council’s senior councillors have taken a detailed look at last week’s High Court decision regarding the allocation of land for housing at Bullinghope and have decided not to appeal the decision.

Their decision comes after going through Mr Justice Collins’ detailed summary of the case which was heard on June 26 and 27.

He reserved his judgement and announced his decision on Thursday last week, July 24.

He decided that the council should have more fully set out its reasons when allocating the land for residential development.

“We’ve now had time to go through the findings in detail,” said Herefordshire Council chief executive Chris Bull.

“The council accepts the judgement in full and has decided not to appeal the judge’s decision.”

However, he added that the need for housing, particularly affordable housing, and where to locate it, was an issue the council still has to wrestle with.

`The issue of desperately needed homes in the county will not go away and the authority is now moving on and will look at a new framework to identify suitable locations for new housing developments.”

The council is currently undertaking a major consultation exercise – “Shaping our Place” – and is inviting residents to have a say on the planning blueprint for the county, which will dictate where new housing will be built up to 2026.