Barton Farm appeal thrown out

11:44am Thursday 13th December 2007

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A HIGH Court judge has thrown out a developer's bid to build 2,000 homes in Winchester - but campaigners say their fight is far from over.

Cala Homes, which wants to build a new local centre' on the Barton Farm site, off Andover Road, on Monday,(December 13)saw its challenge to quash a Government decision backing Winchester City Council's refusal of permission for the scheme, thrown out.

But yesterday (December 12) Mike Emett, Cala Homes' strategic land director, insisted the company lost the judicial review on a point of law, and that its planning case for the site was still intact.

Gavin Blackman, chairman of the Save Barton Farm group, welcomed the court's decision, but said the good news was tempered by the fact that the city council said last week that the site would be considered for building under its Local Development Framework.

He said: "While it's good news we think there's still a lot of work to do to get development off Barton Farm, so we will be renewing our campaign in the New Year.

"There's plenty of brownfield sites that can be developed first."

Cala Homes' plans involved the development of 84 hectares of land to provide 2,000 homes, plus a mix of retail, food, drink and community facilities.

After the city council vetoed the scheme, Cala failed in an appeal to Government in January 2006.

At the High Court, top planning judge, Mr Justice Sullivan, agreed with the Government inspector that there was a requirement for more than 43,000 homes in the area up to 2011, but more than 48,000 were already being supplied.

Mr Emett said: "The merits of the site remain intact, and that's borne out by the council's inclusion of Winchester City North in its core strategy.

"It was a challenge on a point of law - not a planning appeal. It doesn't affect the strength of our case."