Housebuilding on green fields can be intensely controversial but objections often have to give way before the ever-widening gap between supply and demand. In one case that illustrated the point, the High Court opened the way for construction of 377 new homes close to an area of outstanding natural beauty.
The local authority acknowledged that it did not have a five-year supply of available housing land and that, given that shortfall, the scheme was sustainable, within the meaning of the National Planning Policy Framework. It granted permission despite having received over 700 letters of objection to the plans.
A campaign group that was said to represent over 1,000 local residents mounted a judicial review challenge to the permission. However, in rejecting their complaints, the Court found that the officer’s report upon which the council’s planning committee had based its decision was unimpeachable.