Judge orders Wrexham to adopt twice-refused local plan
Describing the rejections of the local development plan as irrational, Justice Stephen Eyre KC said the council must reverse its decisions by mid-January.
In addition, Wrexham County Council must pay £100,000 in costs to the consortium of developers, led by SG Estates, who had taken the council to court over the issue, according to a report by The Leader.
The newspaper stated that no one attended the hearing yesterday to speak for the county council.
The Wrexham Local Development Plan 2013 – 2028 had already undergone multiple public consultations and passed inspection by the Welsh Government when councillors first rejected it in April.
The local plan provides the strategic framework for future development in the county, including where more than 8,000 homes can be built. Wrexham County Council’s last up-to-date plan expired in 2011.
The North Wales authority doubled down on its rejection in June, with Leader Cllr Mark Pritchard saying that he did not believe the local plan was sound. Objections over the local plan centred over a believed insufficient affordable housing provision and lack of infrastructure to provide for a large increase in housing.
Both decisions by the county council had been contrary to planning officer recommendation. In June, the county council’s legal team had weighed in as well, stating that in refusing the local plan the county council had acted unlawfully and was unlikely to win a judicial review.
It was a prescient warning, as the county council found on Wednesday.
“The council deliberately, in the face of legal advice and recommendation, declined to carry out its legal duty,” said Judge Eyre during the review, according to The Leader.
The judge also said that if the local plan was not adopted by mid-January 2024 then firmer action would be taken by the court.
Wrexham County Council provided the following statement after requests for comment about the judicial review: “In light of the information received today (29.11.23) we will be arranging an Extraordinary Council meeting to deal with the matter.”
Barristers’ chambers Francis Taylor Building represented SG Estates and the developer consortium during the review.
