London Road redevelopment dispute reaches High Court

Council denies claims it unlawfully entered into agreement

THE future of the London Road Industrial Estate is being thrashed out in the High Court in London.

In 2014, West Berkshire Council entered into an agreement with developer St Modwen to regenerate the area.

But Faraday Developments Limited (FDL), which was granted outline permission for its own scheme in 2009, believes the St Modwen agreement was unlawful and subsequently started legal proceedings against the council.

At a judicial review hearing at the High Court on Tuesday, a top judge heard the legal arguments from both the council and FDL.

Charles Banner, representing FDL, argued that the tendering process was flawed and that the council failed in its duty to obtain the “best value”.

He accused the council of “moving the goalposts” by accepting St Modwen’s bid even though it did not comply with a key-leasing requirement that was stated to be part of the tendering process.

If Mr Justice Holgate agrees that the agreement was entered into unlawfully, he could order the council to re-run the tendering process which would inevitably delay any redevelopment works from taking place.

Lawyers representing the council and St Modwen maintain the process was lawful and that the agreement should be upheld.

They also branded the court case as a commercial delaying tactic on the part of a disappointed rival developer.

FDL was given outline permission for the £50m ‘Faraday Plaza’ scheme, consisting of retail and housing space, a hotel and restaurant and an additional exit and entrance road on to the A339, in 2009.

It had to resubmit its application in 2012 after the three-year time period for works to commence lapsed.

But despite it being an identical application to the previous one, the council refused it.

The council later announced that St Modwen was its preferred developer and entered into a development agreement.

St Modwen’s proposed masterplan includes 300 to 400 new homes, a food store and a range of new office and business accommodation – extending to 80,000 square feet, as well as a new road, which will be accessed via the A339.

FDL appealed the council’s decision to refuse its planning application and this year a planning inspector upheld the appeal in favour of FDL.

In a damning report, the inspector accused the council’s planning officers of misleading councillors in their decision to reject the application.

In his report, government inspector David Cullingford also accused the council of “perversely” misunderstanding or misapplying procedures applicable to the application.

However the council hit back at the accusations and denied it was misled.

Mr Justice Holgate is expected to reserve judgment following three days of complex legal argument, and deliver a decision in writing at a later date.