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Collins J allowed the Claimant’s claim for judicial review of two planning permissions granted by Rushmoor Borough Council to the Interested Party, Pillar Farnborough Limited, on a site in Farnborough on which there had previously been a substantial retail warehouse used by B & Q Plc. The planning permissions allowed for the division of the existing building to comprise six separate units, each to be a retail warehouse, and to build three further units on what had been a gardening centre. The first permission covered the works needed for the division of the existing building and the second the erection of the three new units. Collins J accepted that the Defendant Council had erred in law in that it had wrongly proceeded on the basis that there were currently no restrictions on the sale of durable goods on the site and, in dealing with the Defendant’s submission that that error had made no difference to the outcome of the planning application, stated that “I have cited the relevant passages from his reports and it is plain that he did regard the lack of limitation to durable goods as of some significance”. Accordingly he rejected the Defendant’s and the Interested Party’s argument that the court should in its discretion refuse relief. Collins J rejected the Claimant’s second ground for judicial review, namely that there were in addition restrictions on the sub-division of the Site for use as more than one retail warehouse. The Claimant’s were represented by Christopher Katkowski QC and Tim Buley. Edmund Robb acted for the interested party.
