Flaxby Park Ltd v Harrogate Borough Council
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judge | Mr Justice Holgate |
| Judgment Date | 25 November 2020 |
| Neutral Citation | [2020] EWHC 3204 (Admin) |
| Docket Number | Case No: CO/1290/2020 |
| Date | 25 November 2020 |
| Court | Queen's Bench Division (Administrative Court) |
[2020] EWHC 3204 (Admin)
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE
QUEEN'S BENCH DIVISION
PLANNING COURT
Royal Courts of Justice
Strand, London, WC2A 2LL
THE HON. Mr Justice Holgate
Case No: CO/1290/2020
and
Christopher Katkowski QC & Richard Moules (instructed by Town Legal LLP) for the Claimant
Paul Brown QC (instructed by Harrogate Borough Council) for the Defendant
Christopher Young QC & James Corbet Burcher (instructed by Walker Morris LLP) for the 2 nd Interested Party
James Strachan QC (instructed by Walton & Co) for the 3 rd Interested Party
The 1st Interested Party did not appear and was not represented
Hearing dates: 27–29 October 2020
Approved Judgment
Introduction
Policy DM4 of the Harrogate District Local Plan (“the Local Plan”) provides for a new settlement within a “broad location for growth” in the Green Hammerton/Cattal area, lying to the east of the A1(M). The claimant, Flaxby Park Ltd (“FPL”) brings this challenge under s. 113 of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 (“PCPA 2004”) to quash that policy and other references in the Local Plan to that location for the new settlement. The local planning authority for the district is the defendant, Harrogate Borough Council (“HBC”), which adopted the Local Plan on 4 March 2020.
The Local Plan covers the period 2014 to 2035. Policy GS1 makes provision for a minimum of 13,377 new homes over the Plan period. To help meet this requirement, Policy GS2 states that growth will be focused in the district's main settlements, settlements on the key public transport corridors and “a new settlement within the Green Hammerton/Cattal area”. Policy GS2 adds:-
“A broad location for growth is identified in the Green Hammerton/Cattal area, as shown on the key diagram. Within this area a site for a new settlement will be allocated through the adoption of a separate Development Plan Document (DPD). The DPD will be brought forward in accordance with the development principles outlined in policy DM4.”
Policy DM4 states inter alia:-
“Land in the Green Hammerton/Cattal area has been identified as a broad location for growth during the plan period and beyond. The boundary, nature and form of a new settlement within this broad location will be established in a separate New Settlement Development Plan Document (DPD).”
Policy DM4 also requires the DPD to address a number of principles for the design, development and delivery of the new settlement, including the provision of at least 3,000 dwellings of an appropriate mix to provide a balanced community (A), about 5 hectares of employment land (B), and appropriate public transport services and infrastructure to serve the new settlement including the improvement of two existing rail stations (F).
FPL is the owner and promoter of land focused on the former Flaxby Golf Course, Harrogate, which broadly lies along the western side of the A1(M). FPL has promoted the development of a new settlement on this site since 2016, through the Local Plan process and an outline planning application, submitted in November 2017 and refused by HBC on 14 October 2020.
Oakgate Yorkshire Limited, the second Interested Party (“IP2”), is a property development company that is promoting land in the vicinity of Cattal which forms part of the Policy DM4 location. It has been promoting a new settlement here since 2016.
CEG Land Promotions III (UK) Limited, the third Interested Party (“IP3”), is a property development company that is promoting land in the vicinity of Green Hammerton which forms part of the Policy DM4 location. It has been promoting a new settlement here since 2013.
FPL, IP2 and IP3 have all participated actively in the preparation and examination of the Local Plan by making written and oral representations throughout the process. It is important to record at this point that the issues raised in these proceedings do not involve any challenge to HBC's decision that the Local Plan should contain a policy promoting a new settlement with at least 3,000 houses. The issues are solely concerned with the lawfulness of the decision to include policies identifying Green Hammerton/Cattal as a broad location for that new settlement.
FPL's claim mainly relates to the requirements of Directive 2001/42/EC (“the Directive”), as transposed into domestic law by the Environmental Assessment of Plans and Programmes Regulations 2004 (SI 2004 No. 1633) (“the 2004 Regulations”), for what is often referred to as strategic environmental assessment (“SEA”). The three grounds of challenge may be summarised as follows:-
(1) The Council's Members failed to consider the reasonable alternative of allocating a new settlement in the broad location of Flaxby in breach of the Directive as implemented by the 2004 Regulations. The Inspector had required assessment of that alternative, but the fruits of that additional sustainability work were never put before Members. Instead Council officers decided whether the further sustainability work justified any change to the “finely balanced” decision regarding the location of the proposed new settlement;
(2) The Council failed to assess the reasonable alternative of a new settlement in the broad location of Flaxby on an equal basis as it was required to do by the 2004 Regulations as interpreted by the English courts; and
(3) The Council and the Inspector had insufficient evidence about, and made insufficient enquiry into, the viability and deliverability of the Green Hammerton/Cattal broad location despite FPL expressly putting those matters in issue and providing evidence calling the viability and deliverability of this proposed broad location into question.
Grounds 2 and 3 are concerned with whether there was a failure to address particular considerations in the SEA process and the examination of the draft Local Plan. On the other hand, ground 1 is concerned with identifying which body or person was required to consider the comparison of broad locations in the SEA, irrespective of the outcome of grounds 2 and 3. In the circumstances it is convenient to deal with grounds 2 and 3 before going on to consider ground 1.
I would like to express my gratitude for the way in which this case was presented by all parties, both in their skeleton arguments and at the hearing. There was good cooperation in the production of an agreed statement of facts, the refining of the issues needing to be decided and the production of electronic bundles complying with the protocols and guidance on remote hearings. Such good practice greatly assists the work of the Planning Court for the benefit of its users.
The remainder of this judgment is set out under the following headings:
Witness statements
| Heading | Paragraph Numbers |
| Witness Statements | 12 – 20 |
| The statutory framework | 21 – 68 |
| 21 | |
| The SEA Directive | 39 |
| 50 | |
| Delegation of functions for the preparation of plans | 54 |
| Factual background | 69 – 123 |
| Legal principles | 124 – 139 |
| General principles for legal challenges to a Local Plan | 124 |
| Public law challenges to SEA and the handling of “reasonable alternatives” | 128 |
| Ground 2 – failure to include an additional 630ha of land in the assessment of Flaxby as a broad location | 140 – 150 |
| Ground 3 – insufficiency of information or enquiry about the viability and deliverability of Green Hammerton/Cattal | 151 – 165 |
| Ground 1 – failure by the Council to consider environmental assessment of alternative “broad locations” | 166 – 210 |
| A summary of the submissions | 166 |
| Whether a comparison of broad locations was required by the 2004 Regulations | 178 |
| Who was required to comply with Regulation 8(3) and when? | 194 |
| What if HBC had been obliged to consider alternative broad locations before submitting the Local Plan for examination? | 202 |
| Conclusion on ground 1 | 213 |
| Conclusions | 214 – 217 |
| Addendum – Issues relating to the Court's order | 218 – 245 |
FPL relied upon a lengthy witness statement by Mr. Neil Morton of Savills, who acted as their planning consultant in the Local Plan process. This document set out the history of that process and FPL's involvement in it. However, for the most part, it simply duplicated material which was already contained in the claimant's Statement of Facts and Grounds. There were a few short sections in the witness's evidence which added to that Statement, but there appears to be no reason why that additional material could not have been set out in the latter document. A Statement of Facts and Grounds is required to set out the facts relied upon and be verified by a statement of truth ( CPR 8.2, 22, 54.6, and PD54A paragraph 5.6). Ultimately, FPL's case at the hearing did not depend upon Mr Morton's witness statement except for a small section relevant to ground 3.
Similar criticisms apply to much of the material contained in the witness statements of Mr Procter and Mr McBurney on behalf of IP2 and IP3 respectively. Fortunately, HBC did not find it necessary to submit a witness statement.
It is necessary to add a few observations about witness statements in proceedings in this court.
First, I should re-emphasise the principle that witness statements should not provide a commentary on documents exhibited or make points which are essentially a matter for legal...
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