A developer has said it is pleased that work is set to get under way on 50 homes on a site in Gloucestershire following a High Court ruling.
In October L&Q Estates was given permission to proceed with the development for 50 properties on land off Ashmead Drive in the village of Gotherington, near Bishops Cleeve.
Tewkesbury Borough Council challenged a decision by a government planning inspector to grant outline planning permission to the project following a public inquiry into the scheme in 2020.
The borough council had argued that it had over-delivered against its housing requirement in previous years, and that this should count towards its future supply, therefore reducing current housing requirements.
Mr Justice Dove in the High Court said he was “unable to accept” the borough council’s submission, as he judged the text of the National Planning Policy Framework did not suggest the inspector was required to take oversupply from previous years into account .
Group planning director at L&Q Estates Richard Edwards said he was "pleased" the High Court had ruled in favour of the company.
Mr Edwards said: “The High Court decided that it is a question of planning judgement for each individual inspector to decide how to approach the oversupply issue which means this legal case in Gotherington is finally over and the development can proceed,”
“This was a niche planning argument but there is now a High Court decision for other developers and local authorities to refer to in similar situations since there is currently no Government policy.
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Mr Edwards added there would be “wider advantages” to the local economy during the construction phase of the development, which he said was expected to take two years to complete.
Tewkesbury Borough Council’s development manager, Paul Skelton, said: “The council is disappointed by the judgment. However, whilst the judge concluded that the planning inspector had given sufficient reasons why she did not include past oversupply when deciding the appeal, he did confirm that ‘No doubt in at least most cases the question of oversupply will need to be considered in assessing housing needs and requirements’.
“Appeal decisions such as the one at Gotherington are not binding on the council and we have received more recent appeal decisions where inspectors have concluded that previous oversupply should be taken into account in Tewkesbury Borough.
“The council looks forward to working with the developers to help deliver a high-quality development on this site.”
Work on the 50 houses, of which 20 will be affordable homes, will start in 2022 once the detailed reserved matters centred on landscaping and external appearances have been approved.
The development will also feature a games area, a children’s play area and a multi-purpose community area for events.
L&Q Estates said it would be helping to finance the upgrade of bus stops in the area as well as making a contribution to Gloucestershire County Council towards its budgets for education and libraries.
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L&Q Estates was formerly known as Gallagher Estates, before it was brought under the development division of parent Company L&Q in 2019.
BusinessLive’s sister title GloucestershireLive previously reported that the proposed estate in Gotherington was dismissed by Tewkesbury Borough Council's planning committee in 2017. It was then thrown out by an inspector at appeal in 2018, before being , due to concerns the development would have a "disproportionate" effect on the village.
At the time of the report the borough council had received 159 objections from local residents to the plans, and Gloucestershire County Council's education department and Gotherington Parish Council also objected to them.
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