News: Legal challenge over Rotherham housing scheme
A power response firm has failed in a legal challenge over the approval of planning permission for a housing scheme near to its Rotherham operation.
Amalgamated Smart Metering Ltd, a subsidiary of Mercia Power Response, had taken its cause to the courts, arguing that Rotherham Council had acted unlawfully in granting outline planning approval for 120 residential units on the site of the former Midland Road bus depot.
Mercia claimed that the council had not informed them of the plans and so they could not make representations regarding potential noise conflicts.
Rothbiz reported in 2023 that Prospect Estates Ltd had submitted an application for the demolished site at Masbrough in 2023. The plans were approved in February 2024.
Mercia submitted a judicial review claim on July 17 2024 - outside of the six week time limit for such a claim. It was concerned that the introduction of a large scale housing development so close to its gas reciprocating flexible power generating facility would risk its existing operations and limit the scope for any future development.
Issues were raised regarding how the council alerts potential interested parties through letters, signage and local press notices, and its online planning portal and faulty online map search facility. The noise impact assessment submitted in support of the application was also argued to be deficient.
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At Leeds Combined Court the claimant stated that it had heard rumours and was "very concerned to discover the existence of the planning permission on 11 June 2024." However, the judge, Robert Palmer KC, ruled that it was clear from evidence that the firm had seen a 2023 article from Rothbiz in February 2024 "that could not be more explicit" in setting out that an outline planning application had been submitted.
Palmer said: "It was entirely clear – indeed the article could not have been more explicit – that an outline planning application had been made. Further, the article had provided significant detail as to the basis of the application. Despite all of this, the only reference to the contents ... was that it "referred to the prior approval of the demolition of the Development Site". This is a strikingly incomplete summary of its contents."
The judge was told by Mercia's lawyers that that is all that had been taken from the article at the time. Palmer added: "It is not clear why that should be so. It is difficult to understand why anyone could have been left in any doubt as to the existence of a recent outline planning application, which represented a separate and new application to the demolition application that had been previously approved.
"It therefore appears that the application would have been capable of discovery with minimal effort, had suitable searches been conducted at an earlier stage.
"The Claimant had had a fair opportunity to become aware of the proposed development, and could subsequently have objected to it [in time]."
The legal challenge was dismissed with the judge concluding that "there is no good or sufficient reason to extend time to make up for the claimant's delay."
The summary of the case also shows that Gleeson, the Sheffield-based urban regeneration and strategic land specialist, was poised to buy the site once outline planning permission was approved.
The site was purchased by Prospect Estates, and buildings demolished, for £1,8m. Gleeson had agreed terms for the site with planning permission for £3.2m.
Gleeson focuses solely on building low cost homes and only builds affordable homes. It has completed developments in Kilnhurst and Dalton.
Prospect Estates website
Mercia website
Images: Google Maps
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Amalgamated Smart Metering Ltd, a subsidiary of Mercia Power Response, had taken its cause to the courts, arguing that Rotherham Council had acted unlawfully in granting outline planning approval for 120 residential units on the site of the former Midland Road bus depot.
Mercia claimed that the council had not informed them of the plans and so they could not make representations regarding potential noise conflicts.
Rothbiz reported in 2023 that Prospect Estates Ltd had submitted an application for the demolished site at Masbrough in 2023. The plans were approved in February 2024.
Mercia submitted a judicial review claim on July 17 2024 - outside of the six week time limit for such a claim. It was concerned that the introduction of a large scale housing development so close to its gas reciprocating flexible power generating facility would risk its existing operations and limit the scope for any future development.
Issues were raised regarding how the council alerts potential interested parties through letters, signage and local press notices, and its online planning portal and faulty online map search facility. The noise impact assessment submitted in support of the application was also argued to be deficient.
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At Leeds Combined Court the claimant stated that it had heard rumours and was "very concerned to discover the existence of the planning permission on 11 June 2024." However, the judge, Robert Palmer KC, ruled that it was clear from evidence that the firm had seen a 2023 article from Rothbiz in February 2024 "that could not be more explicit" in setting out that an outline planning application had been submitted.
Palmer said: "It was entirely clear – indeed the article could not have been more explicit – that an outline planning application had been made. Further, the article had provided significant detail as to the basis of the application. Despite all of this, the only reference to the contents ... was that it "referred to the prior approval of the demolition of the Development Site". This is a strikingly incomplete summary of its contents."
The judge was told by Mercia's lawyers that that is all that had been taken from the article at the time. Palmer added: "It is not clear why that should be so. It is difficult to understand why anyone could have been left in any doubt as to the existence of a recent outline planning application, which represented a separate and new application to the demolition application that had been previously approved.
"It therefore appears that the application would have been capable of discovery with minimal effort, had suitable searches been conducted at an earlier stage.
"The Claimant had had a fair opportunity to become aware of the proposed development, and could subsequently have objected to it [in time]."
The legal challenge was dismissed with the judge concluding that "there is no good or sufficient reason to extend time to make up for the claimant's delay."
The summary of the case also shows that Gleeson, the Sheffield-based urban regeneration and strategic land specialist, was poised to buy the site once outline planning permission was approved.
The site was purchased by Prospect Estates, and buildings demolished, for £1,8m. Gleeson had agreed terms for the site with planning permission for £3.2m.
Gleeson focuses solely on building low cost homes and only builds affordable homes. It has completed developments in Kilnhurst and Dalton.
Prospect Estates website
Mercia website
Images: Google Maps
