Watchdog asks Lords to rule on Bluestone. Independent law expert lends support
22 August 2005
The Council for National Parks (1) has today announced that it is to ask the House of Lords (2) to hear a final appeal on whether or not the Bluestone holiday village (3) can lawfully be built in the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park (4).
Mary Taylor, CNP's Vice Chairman and lead Trustee in Wales, said "The Trustees unanimously decided to ask the Law Lords to hear this appeal, because the long term protection of all the National Parks in England and Wales is in the public interest. Our case centres on the legality of using the promise of local jobs to override environmental protection, which is against the legal statutes set up by Parliament to protect National Parks. We have been encouraged to take this step by our members and local people who do not believe that a large-scale development like Bluestone is justified in the countryside of the National Park. Our postbag shows that plenty of people in Pembrokeshire and in the rest of Wales want the Law Lords to look at this issue."
Professor Malcolm Grant (6), a leading law academic, has offered his support for CNP's attempts to clarify the law surrounding major developments in National Parks. He said "In my view this is a very important public interest test case, and it needs to be heard by the Law Lords. Planning law is meant to provide a structured approach to planning decision taking, and to give certainty to developers and to the public about what can and cannot be built. The Bluestone decision is in danger of undermining the way the planning system is meant to work".
Kate Ashbrook, CNP's Chairman, said "CNP is doing what it was established to do - fight for the protection of the National Parks. CNP exists because legislation alone cannot provide sufficient environmental protection for the National Parks. Bluestone is a real example of where the protection system has broken down. And if Bluestone goes ahead, it will set a precedent for similar developments to be approved in all National Parks.
"We are exercising the democratic right of any organisation or individual to challenge a planning permission. As there is no third party right of appeal in England or Wales on planning approvals, the courts offer the only avenue for us to pursue our challenge. We are funding the appeal with money raised from supporters specifically for this purpose, not with CNP core funds or taxpayers' money.
"We are not trying to delay the start of the Bluestone development, but to stop it altogether. The wheels of the legal justice system turn slowly; but at each stage we have pressed for the case to be heard as quickly as possible, so we have moved through the legal system faster than the great majority of cases.
"CNP works across England and Wales at national, regional and local levels, and our work is based on 70 years' experience of working on National Park issues. Our Council of membership comprises over 40 national and local organisations and individuals with a broad range of interests, including conservation organisations such as the Woodland Trust, user groups such as the British Mountaineering Council and land owning organisations such as the National Trust. We have Trustees as well as staff based in Wales, and we take advice from a special advisory committee on Welsh issues. We have a track record of working with businesses and government at the national and local level.
"For CNP the priority is to get the law on major developments in National Parks straightened out once and for all, and that is what we are asking the Law Lords to do."
Notes to Editors
1. CNP is the national charity that works to protect and enhance the National Parks of England and Wales, and areas that merit National Park status, and promote understanding and quiet enjoyment of them for the benefit of all.
2. CNP's petition to the House of Lords has been lodged today.
3. The part of the Bluestone development in the Pembrokeshire Coast comprises 340 timber lodges, a brand new "village", sports club and sewage-treatment works.
4. On 17 December 2004 the High Court judge Mr Justice Jack held that the decision to grant permission for the Bluestone development was lawful. The Court of Appeal dismissed CNP's appeal against the High Court's judgment on 20 July 2005.
5. The Park Authority's development control committee approved the outline planning application on 28 January 2004.
6. Professor Malcolm Grant CBE is a barrister, an environmental lawyer, academic and public servant. He is President and Provost - the principal academic and administrative officer of University College London - and was Professor of Land Economy and a Fellow of Clare College, University of Cambridge (1991-2003) and was Head of the Department of Land Economy (1993-2001) and Pro-Vice Chancellor (2002-2003). He is an Associate Member of Landmark Chambers and consultant editor of the Encyclopaedia of Planning Law and Practice.
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