Shropshire Star

Failed legal battle over housing plan for Shrewsbury parkland cost taxpayers £150,000

A legal battle over planning permission for homes to be built on a piece of parkland in Shrewsbury cost Shropshire Council almost £150,000, it has been revealed.

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Peter Day chairs the Greenfields Community Group

The dispute between the authority and a group of residents over Greenfields Recreation Ground ended with planning permission for part of the park being quashed in a landmark Supreme Court ruling in March.

Handing down the judgement, the court ordered the council to pay £105,000 towards the costs incurred by Dr Peter Day, of Greenfields Community Group, in bringing the case.

The council has now revealed that its own legal costs were an extra £44,389.30, bringing the total to £149,389.30.

A breakdown of the costs shows the council first forked out £17,700 to lawyers for the initial judicial review in the High Court.

The judge in the case said the council should have realised the land formed part of park and was protected by a trust – and should therefore never have been sold by Shrewsbury Town Council to developers. However the court’s decision was that the trust did not survive the sale and the planning permission was not revoked.