“Court of Appeal date set” for Wrexham’s LDP case

Campaigners say the second highest court in England and Wales “will decide on October 15th whether to overturn a High Court judge’s insistence on Wrexham Council voting to adopt its Local Development Plan”.

Although the paperwork has not been made public they say the Court of Appeal will hear the case to overturn the judgement of Judge Eyre on October 15th in London.

As we previously reported there had been a call to defer ‘any further planning decisions related to the LDP‘ pending the outcome of the hearing.

As readers will have been long following, the LDP has been a thorny issue with multiple fraught votes again the plan in the Guildhall chamber. A consortium of developers challenged that result, with BDW Trading Ltd, Bloor Homes Ltd, Redrow Homes Ltd, Harworth Estates Investment Ltd, Russell Homes UK Limited, Castle Green Homes Limited and SG Estates Limited winning  a court order instructing adoption. The final adoption of the LDP was via a minority vote of councillors after a boycott and walk-out.

Now, an update on the campaigners’ Crowdjustice site states: “Pursuant to the order by Lewison LJ dated 7th May 2024. This appeal has been listed on an expedited basis to be heard on 15th October 2024. Time estimate 1 Day.”

The councillors behind the appeal stated: “This is a great step forward and could also mean the Local Development Plan, which was passed after the judgement by Judge Eyre, is paused – what is known as a ‘technical suspension’ – until the hearing is concluded. There’s a long way to go but the decision to permit the appeal by Lord Justice Lewison on the basis that it has a ‘real prospect of success and raises an important point of principle’ is grounds for optimism on our part.”

They also note that the judgement is “…also significant as it could see Wrexham Council recoup the £100,000 costs awarded against it by Eyre. The council failed to attend court and did not contest the costs award. Councillors backing the appeal have been told by their lawyers that success in the Court of Appeal would mean the £100,000 being recouped by the council”.

They added: “In effect, our appeal is doing what the council could and should have done initially – stand up to the developers. This has not been done lightly and the cost to take it to the Court of Appeal has increased significantly. We’re looking to raise a further £10,000 to ensure we have the best legal representation possible in October – if you can support our community-funded campaign please go to https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/wrexham-councillors-threatened.”

The fundraiser stands at £9,250 at the time of publication.