Council plans to fight building project fall through (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

Council plans to fight building project fall through

HOPES of a legal challenge to a controversial decision to allow 31 homes to be built on a flood plain in Lechlade have been dashed.

Earlier this month, Cotswold District Council asked a barrister for advice on whether it had a case to challenge the decision in the High Court.

The decision to allow Westbury Homes to build the development on land at Butler's Court in Lechlade was made by a government planning inspector in December.

But this week, the district council's head of legal services, James Ellis, told the Standard: "Sadly, the barrister did not think we had sustainable grounds for an appeal.

"The barrister said the inspector had looked at all the evidence before him and arrived at a reasonable decision.

"That does not make it a good one.

"But any challenge would be based on the process followed by the inspector and whether he had come to a reasonable conclusion.

"Our barrister's view was that we might not like the decision, but the inspector had come to a reasonable conclusion."

Local residents and town councillors are fighting the plans because they fear the development will cause flooding problems for homes along the Fairford road.

Mr Ellis said the only hope now was that individual residents could mount a legal challenge.

"There is nothing else the district council can do, but individuals could mount a judicial review on other grounds," he said.

"The council is hamstrung because we could only challenge the inspector on what evidence was before him.

"Individuals could ask whether there were other things the inspector should have taken into account."

Local residents held a meeting at the weekend to discuss the possibility of taking action.

Town councillor Rob Long said: "We discussed the possibility of a judicial review and people are taking advice from lawyers this week."

One problem is that any appeal needs to be mounted within six weeks of the inspector's decision, giving a deadline of January 28.

Lechlade district councillor Christine Eatwell said: "The barrister's decision is really disappointing and I can't believe we find ourselves in this position.

"I'm very worried about what will happen to those homes near the site, and feel desperately sorry for the residents.

"But there's nothing more I can do to help them."

The district council threw out the application in April on flooding grounds, but Westbury won on appeal.

The developer says a complex drainage system will channel rainwater away from the site into the River Thames, but residents fear it won't work.