A judge has quashed a Government decision to approve a controversial block of flats on the Newcastle Quayside.
In the latest twist in the saga over the Plot 12 site, city council bosses have succeeded in their appeal to the High Court to overturn a verdict granting approval for a 14-storey housing development. The plans to build 289 flats on the long-vacant site had been rejected by Newcastle City Council’s planning committee in 2021, but were granted on appeal by a Government planning inspector following a public inquiry earlier this year.
But, after the local authority challenged the decision in a High Court hearing held at the Moot Hall in October, a judge has now ruled that inspector Claire Searson made a legal error. Mr Justice Holgate wrote, in a judgement published on Tuesday, that her decision “must be quashed and the appeal redetermined afresh”.
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The proposed housing block, put forward by Packaged Living and Robertson Property, has been heavily criticised by neighbours and was branded "monolithic" and "painfully poor".
Its future is now uncertain, with the prospect of the developers now taking the matter to the Court of Appeal or of a second public inquiry being held in front of a different planning inspector. Alternatively, the companies behind the £40m scheme could decide to redesign it and submit a new planning application to the council – or withdraw their proposals entirely and bring the long-running row to an end.
It has been claimed by critics that the development would “devastate living conditions” for residents of the St Ann’s Quay building next door and “decimate” views to and from the historic St Ann’s Church. The developers have argued that the scheme would boost Newcastle’s economy and regenerate a notoriously difficult plot of land, one of the last remaining empty spots on the Quayside, which has lain vacant for decades.
Mr Justice Holgate upheld the council’s challenge on the grounds that Mrs Searson did not pay sufficient attention to the harm that would be caused to the grade I listed church and, in doing so, caused “genuine and substantial prejudice” to the council and the St Ann’s Quay management company’s case. However, he rejected the council’s other two grounds of appeal.
The local authority’s barrister, Anjoli Foster, had also criticised the weight that the inspector gave to the deliverability of the development and the fact that she had granted permission for a housing development that did not meet minimum space standards. The judge concluded that the financial viability of the project was a material consideration, given the “longstanding problems” in regenerating the Plot 12 site, and that there was “no merit” in the council’s arguments on space standards.
A council spokesperson said: “The council took the case to the High Court as it felt legal errors had been made in the planning appeal decision for Plot 12. We are pleased that the High Court has now quashed the planning appeal decision. The Hon. Mr Justice Holgate, who heard the case, agreed with the council’s view that there had been a legal error in the planning appeal decision, which related to how the planning inspector had assessed the level of harm caused to the setting of the grade I listed building, St Ann’s Church.”
Packaged Living has been contacted for a comment.
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