New home plan deferred (From Watford Observer)

New home plan deferred

8:08am Sunday 23rd March 2008 in News

Plans for nine new homes on back garden land in Watford have been deferred, as angry residents gear up their fight for a judicial review.

Visao Ltd applied to build six houses and three flats on land bordered by Gammons Lane and Ridge Lane. However, a decision was postponed by Watford Borough Council's Development Control committee last week.

This was due to the intention of residents to challenge a planning inspector's decision to approve an application for 11 new homes on the same piece of land, which was previously rejected by the council.

Members of the Ridge Association received legal advice that said they have a 50-60 per cent chance to overturn the decision.

The council, however, will not challenge the decision after receiving their own legal advice, which said they would fail in any bid to overturn the inspector's decision.

Both sides met on Wednesday to discuss their respective legal advice and despite as a result, residents have vowed to continue their fight.

Councillor Iain Sharpe said: "We remain bitterly disappointed by the inspector's decision. The really frustrating thing about the whole process is you don't have the right to challenge the decision on planning grounds. There has to be a technical reason."

Steve Johnson, of the Ridge Association, said the inspector's judgement was "unlawful" because information about badgers living in the area was not considered.

He said: "A wildlife corridor has to be included. That should have been taken on board because the size of the gardens will be far smaller than they are.

"We feel our argument is extremely strong and should be tested in law. There are much wider implications for Watford if it is allowed to stick."

Furthermore, the second application deferred on Thursday has not been decided within an eight week limit. This means the developers can now apply for a decision directly from a government-appointed planning inspector.

Consensus Planning, who represent Visao, were unable to confirm this week whether they would indeed take the decision to an appeal.