PROTESTERS fighting against plans to build 3,400 homes at the back of Webheath up to Bentley village are to consider taking their case to a judicial review should it go against them.
David Rose, chairman of Webheath Action Group (WAG) said talks would be held with his opposite number, Malcolm Glainger of Bentley Area Action Group, to examine the feasibility to taking the matter further.
However he insisted that they were looking at all possibilities given the fact that the planning inspector Michael Hetherington has yet to make a decision on the matter following a public inquiry last week.
“Redditch borough council and Bromsgrove district council employed one of the best planning barristers in the country to represent them and also had a housing developer and their consultants advising and I have to admit that on the way back from the inquiry I was feeling a little bit down,” said Mr Rose.
“In retrospect I think we showed their barrister too much deference, I suppose because he’s a professional at this and we’re just trying to do our best.
“However Mr Hetherington did find issue with a number of things on the council side and we await his decision.”
He added that planning inspectors up and down the country were under pressure to support councils and their local plans as authorities struggled to meet the increasing demand for houses.
“The Councils’ selection processes are clearly flawed, they have not evaluated a scenario that excludes Webheath, their documents do not comply with national local plan assessment standards and there are doubts regarding compliance with the requirement to demonstrate a five Year Housing Land Supply.”
If campaigners did lose their appeal and took the case to judicial review it could cost an initial £10,000 just to examine the viability of the case and much more to take it further.
