Surrey countryside campaigners have won their legal challenge against Mole Valley District Council over its decision to permit the building of a luxury golf and leisure complex at historic Cherkley Court near Leatherhead.
A High Court judge has quashed the council’s decision to grant permission for the development at Leatherhead Downs.
Mr Justice Haddon-Cave concluded that the approval was legally flawed, contrary to planning policy, failed to take into account material considerations, irrational and the reasons given for permission were inadequate.
Cherkley Court, the former home of Lord Beaverbrook, is on the edge of the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). The estate is in the Metropolitan Green Belt and is a designated Area of Great Landscape Value.
The case was brought by the Cherkley Campaign, a local action group, supported by the Surrey Branch of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE).
Councillor John Northcott, the council’s Portfolio Holder of Planning, said: ‘Mole Valley District Council vigorously defended its handling of this planning application and we are very disappointed that the challenge has been upheld. This application was the most complex in the council’s history and, given the decision, we will now need to take time to consider what our next steps will be and the impact this will have.’
The judge upheld three of the five legal challenges. Andy Smith, CPRE Surrey Branch Director, said: ‘We hope that this is the end of the matter. The next step is for the developers to explain how they will go about repairing the appalling damage that they have already done to the landscape of Leatherhead Downs.’
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