Court of Appeal rejects challenge to Paddington Cube as abuse of process

The Court of Appeal has refused to grant SAVE Britain’s Heritage permission to continue with its challenge to Westminster City Council’s decision to grant planning permission for the Paddington Cube.  The Court has however given SAVE permission to challenge the Secretary of State’s decision not to give reasons for not calling in the scheme for his own determination.    The Court held that it would be an abuse of process for SAVE to amount a collateral attack on the Council’s decision to grant permission as part of its challenge to the Secretary of State’s decision not to give reasons, as it had done in the High Court.  The permission is thus now free from litigation. The scheme comprises a mixed use commercial building providing up to 50,000 sqm (GEA) floorspace of office/commercial uses, retail and café/restaurant uses at lower levels and top floor level, a retail/restaurant building on Praed Street; a new major piazza including pedestrianisation of London Street, a new access road between Winsland Street and Praed Street, hard and soft landscaping, new underground station entrance and new Bakerloo Line Ticket Hall; and associated infrastructure and interface highway and transport works for underground connections, and ancillary works.(EIA Application accompanied by an Environmental Statement).  Click here for an image of the scheme. Christopher Lockhart-Mummery QC and Robert Walton acted for the developers, Great Western Developments Ltd (GWD), instructed by Stephen Ashworth and Michele Vas at Dentons LLP.