Vale Council Planning Decision Upheld

The Vale of Glamorgan Council has successfully defended a challenge in the High Court against a decision made by its planning committee in 2015. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

The decision to grant full planning permission, subject to conditions, for the construction of a facility for the recycling of incinerator bottom ash at Wimborne Road in Barry was taken at a meeting of the committee on 3 September 2015, following a lengthy debate. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Following this the claimants sought to challenge the Council’s decision on 6 separate grounds, including that it had wrongly classified the bottom ash as ‘non-hazardous’, that it had failed to consider dust emissions, and that it hadn’t properly consulted Public Health Wales. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

However, in his decision issued in March 2016 the judge, The Hon. Mr Justice Coulson, stated that the application for judicial review “must fail” as it amounted to an attempt to reargue the merits of the original decision and was therefore without foundation. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Marcus Goldsworthy, the Head of Regeneration & Planning at the Vale of Glamorgan Council, said: “The Council is extremely pleased with this decision which vindicates all the hard work of both officers within our planning team and the members of the planning committee itself. This application was considered properly and thoroughly prior to committee making a well informed and reasoned decision. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

“The Council will now be seeking to ensure that all of the costs it incurred in defending its decision in the courts are recovered from the claimant.” ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​