Snowdonia: Supreme Court denies developer's 401-home plans

The original application to build the houses was submitted half a century ago by developers

A developer cannot rely on planning permission granted for a development in Snowdonia National Park in the 1960s, the Supreme Court has ruled.

Permission was granted in 1967 for 401 homes at the Balkan Hill site, near Aberdyfi in Gwynedd.

However, since that date, only 41 houses have been built, none of which were in accordance with original plans.

A panel of five justices upheld earlier decisions made to deny permission by the High Court and Court of Appeal.

The current owner of the site, Hillside Parks Ltd, brought legal action against Snowdonia National Park Authority, which has responsibility for the site.

Hill Side Parks claimed the 1967 scheme was still valid and therefore development could continue at the site based on the original permission.

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The site comprises about 29 acres (12 hectares) of land near Aberdyfi.

On behalf of all five judges, Lords Sales and Leggatt said development that had taken place since the original scheme was granted permission made it "physically impossible" for further development to now take place in accordance with those plans.

"The courts below were right to dismiss the developer's claim and this appeal must also be dismissed," they said.

Speaking on BBC Radio Cymru, Jonathan Cawley, director of planning and land management for Snowdonia National Park Authority, said the decision was a relief.

He said: "There are legal costs from this, we hope we can claim those costs back from the developer, so in the end I hope it will be fairly cost-neutral for the authority.

"It was quite a complex development, and from our point of view, one that was completely impossible to complete.

"I think there are implications for the construction industry following this, in the past they might have found it easier to make changes to large estates of houses - now, they will have to carefully consider the implications of their decisions."