External probe into handling of poultry farm appeal

The farm received planning permission from a national inspector after the application was refused by the council in January last year

An external investigation is to be held into Warwick District Council's handling of an planning appeal for a poultry farm.

The authority said it had received a formal complaint over the way it dealt with the case in Norton Lindsey.

The long-running process lasted more than five years and involved objections and previous failed appeals, before a watered-down version was eventually passed by a planning inspector in Jaunary 2023..

The council said it had appointed an external consultant to investigate its role.

The district council rejected the original application on the grounds of road safety.

But Warwickshire County Council, the highways authority, withdrew its objection after the applicant, Mr Audhali, did further work to satisfy its criteria.

Documents laying out the revised position were not uploaded to Warwick District Council’s planning portal until 1 May this year.

That was after the appeal had been heard, despite the documents being produced six months earlier.

The inspector’s report concluded that interested parties had been notified of the appeal, “so would have been able to view the additional submitted information”.

It is not clear whether that position assumed that the documents had been put on the district council’s website or if it was making reference to their availability elsewhere.

A district council spokesperson said the complaint related to “how the appeal was handled by the council, leading to the decision by the (Planning) Inspectorate to grant permission”.

The council said it was unable to comment on the anticipated costs involved until the process concluded.

“Warwick District Council is aware of the public concern about this case and has received a complaint," a spokesperson said.

"This complaint is currently being investigated and it would therefore not be appropriate to comment further at this time.”

The case was expected to be resolved in September, the authority added.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.