A judge has declined ADVEARSE’s initial application to proceed with a judicial review (JR) of the Vearse Farm urban extension outline planning permission, but has not rejected it out of hand. This means their lawyers have been able to make a renewed application to go ahead with the JR which will be heard at an oral hearing in front of a different judge. The case has been referred to the Cardiff Regional Court and ADVEARSE will let people know as soon as they have a date for the hearing which will take place in Bristol.
Chairman of ADVEARSE, Barry Bates says: ‘ADVEARSE, our lawyers and Dorset CPRE remain firmly committed and believe our case still has merit, and we are hopeful that we will obtain permission to take the case to a full JR hearing in due course.’
ADVEARSE raised funds for a judicial review against West Dorset District Council’s consent to allow 760 houses (plus industrial development and other mixed use – and up to 930 houses planned) to be built on Vearse Farm, in the Dorset AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty), just outside Bridport. The planning committee has completely ignored the overwhelming opposition of local people to the urban extension of Bridport's historic little market town.
Biggest development on AONB land
Vearse Farm is set to be the biggest development ever to be built on AONB land and, if it goes ahead, it will effectively destroy all AONB protection and make it OK for all our countryside to be concreted over. However, if the ADVEARSE judicial review is successful it will set a helpful legal precedent that can be applied all over the country. This is one of the reasons why Dorset CPRE is match funding the Judicial Review application up to a maximum of £10,000. Read our previous news item http://dorset-cpre.org.uk/news/current-news/item/2227-advearse-judicial-review for more details.