Questions into how Babergh District Council came to a decision over plans for nearly 230 homes has been quashed following a High Court review.

East Anglian Daily Times: Councillor Nick Ridley said it understood the concerns of people in East Bergholt over development Picture: PHIL MORLEYCouncillor Nick Ridley said it understood the concerns of people in East Bergholt over development Picture: PHIL MORLEY (Image: Archant)

East Bergholt Parish Council raised issues with Babergh approving three East Bergholt applications totalling 229 homes in August, prompting it to launch a judicial review.

The three sites were not in the local development plan.

The grounds of the parish council’s review was that Babergh had “not lawfully exercised its discretion when assessing deliverability and delivery in the context of the five year housing land supply” and claimed that the failure of the planning officer’s report to acknowledge the controversy surrounding land supply meant it was “misleading and inadequate”.

The matter went to the High Court, and in a written report published on December 7 High Court judge Sir Ross Cranston dismissed the appeal.

He said: “In my view the difficulty the claimant faces is that its case is not about the planning decisions made on August 2 2017 but in reality an attack on the assessment of the five-year housing land supply set out in the council’s AMR [annual monitoring report] published on June 13 2017.”

He added that the planning committee applied its understanding of the district’s five-year land supply.

The ruling means that the planning permission approved for the three sites remains.

Councillor Nick Ridley, Babergh District Council cabinet member for planning, said: “We welcome the judge’s decision, and the ruling that our decision making process was correct and lawful.

“We will however have to wait until later this month to see whether the parish council seek to appeal this judgement.

“In any event we obviously understand the concern in East Bergholt around unsympathetic development.

“We will therefore be continuing to work with the community to ensure that any development within the village does not undermine the unique character and heritage of East Bergholt and the Dedham Vale.”

A spokesman from East Bergholt Parish Council said it was unable to comment at this time, although it is understood the matter will be raised at its next meeting.