A deputy High Court Judge has ruled that the St Ives West Urban Design Framework, prepared by Huntingdonshire District Council, is unlawful following a legal challenge by Houghton and Wyton Parish Council as the parish council succeeded in persuading the High Court that the UDF should have been prepared as a Supplementary Planning Document (SPD).
The UDF contained guidance for a development area of 500 new homes, and a large new country park area planned as an urban extension of St Ives which the parish council opposes.
Malcolm Sharp, Huntingdonshire’s managing director and current president of the Planning Officer’s Society, said: ‘The principle of development in this area is already set in our adopted Core Strategy and the district council is expecting a planning application at any time.
‘Obviously it is disappointing that, on a complex point of procedural law, our efforts to provide positive planning guidance for the established growth area to the west of St Ives have been undermined.
‘However, we are considering an appeal as we are of the view that the judgement undermines our ability to plan effectively and positively for our community – and has potentially wide ranging implications for other authorities.’
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