CBRE Lionbrook (General Partners) Ltdon the application of) v Hammerson (Rugby) Ltd
2014
ADMINISTRATIVE COURT
UK
CORAM
- Mr Justice Lindblom
Areas of Law
- Environmental Law
- Civil Procedure
- Constitutional Law
- Administrative Law
2014
ADMINISTRATIVE COURT
UK
CORAM
AI Generated Summary
This case involves judicial review proceedings initiated by CBRE Lionbrook, challenging the grant of planning permission by Rugby Borough Council for a shopping development. The case explored issues around compliance with environmental impact assessment (EIA) regulations, application of local and national development policies, and procedural propriety. The court upheld the Council's handling of EIA, the assessment of the development's impacts, and its adherence to planning regulations, dismissing the claim.
Judgment
Mr Justice Lindblom:
Introduction
This claim for judicial review challenges a planning permission granted in July 2013 for major shopping development on the outskirts of Rugby. The court must consider whether the permission was lawfully granted, and not whether the decision itself was right.
The claimant, CBRE Lionbrook (General Partners) Ltd. (“CBRE Lionbrook”) owns the Clock Towers Shopping Centre in the town centre. The first interested party, Hammerson (Rugby) Ltd. (“Hammerson”), owns Elliott’s Field Retail Park, a large retail park on the Leicester Road, about a mile outside the town centre. The claim challenges the planning permission granted by the defendant, Rugby Borough Council (“the Council”) in July 2013 for a redevelopment of the retail park that would greatly increase its floorspace. CBRE Lionbrook objected to that proposal. The second interested party, Cemex UK Properties Ltd. (“Cemex”), owns a site in Rugby town centre, Cemex House; the third interested party, Avenbury Properties Ltd. (“Avenbury”), owns another, off Evreux Way. Those two sites comprise the Evreux Way Development site (“the Evreux Way site”), which is allocated for retail development in the Rugby Borough Core Strategy (“the core strategy”). CBRE Lionbrook, Cemex and Avenbury intend to redevelop the Evreux Way site together with the Clock Towers Shopping Centre. Cemex and Avenbury also oppose the redevelopment of the retail park.
There were originally 12 grounds in the claim. Six of them, grounds 7 to 12, were abandoned before the hearing. In the remaining grounds CBRE Lionbrook challenge the Council’s decision on Hammerson’s application, in three main respects – an alleged failure to comply with the requirements for screening under the regime for environmental impact assessment (“EIA”), alleged failures in the application of development plan and national policy for retail development, and an allegedly unlawful failure to reconsider the proposal in the light of a letter sent to Council by CBRE Lionbrook after the Planning Committee had resolved to approve it.
Background
Elliott’s Field Retail Park has been trading since 1988. Today it has nine retail units arranged in three terraces, which provide 15,640 square metres of comparison goods shopping floorspace in Class A1, and one unit with 255 square metres of floorspace for the sale of food and drink, in Class A3. Next to the retail park, to its south, is a Tesco superstore. Another retail park, the Junction On