Judge halts homes plan on 'transparency' grounds

The proposal formed part of a prospective wider development of around 1,500 homes in Dewsbury

Campaigners have hailed a "victory for local democracy" after they successfully challenged a council's decision to allow nearly 200 homes to be built.

Kirklees Council granted a developer outline planning permission for 181 homes on Heybeck Lane in Dewsbury in October 2024.

However, a High Court judge has now quashed the decision after concluding there was a "serious want of transparency" and finding the council and developer CC Projects had "shielded" the outcome of their negotiations from the public.

Kirklees Council said it would "reflect" on the ruling.

Councillors voted to delegate the application to council officers at a meeting in December 2022 - a move which is relatively routine in the planning process.

However, according to the Chidswell Action Group (CAG), which had fought against the plans on mostly ecological grounds, the council failed to publish a draft of its Section 106 agreement with the developer, before it decided to approve the plan last year.

A Section 106 agreement outlines the conditions developers have to meet as part of their building work.

The judge, Mr Justice Kerr, said the proposed agreement should have been published on the council's planning portal to allow for scrutiny and comment from members of the public and other interested parties.

He said "the developer and the LPA (local planning authority) were negotiating with each other and shielding the product of their negotiations from the public".

'David and Goliath'

The council did not "dispute" this breach had occurred, according to the ruling.

CAG was also awarded £35,000 in costs by the judge.

CAG chairman Jim Aveyard said: "It took a huge amount of work to apply for the judicial review but this judgement has proven it was time and effort well spent.

"This has been a victory for local democracy and a real David and Goliath battle."

Campaigners had also challenged the council's approach to ecological surveys and bio-diversity net gain linked to the site, although the judge said those issues had already been resolved.

The proposal was the first stage of a wider development in the area, the other section of which was a plan to build more than 1,300 homes on a nearby site on Leeds Road.

A decision on the bigger planning application has yet to be made.

A spokesperson for Kirklees Council said: "Of course, we will reflect on the judgement as it relates to the procedural aspects of our handling of the application."

CC Projects has been contacted for comment.