The final matters for a controversial 210-home development in Thurston was taken off the agenda at zero hour at Mid Suffolk District Council on Wednesday morning as judicial review proceedings continue.
Mid Suffolk’s development control B committee had been due to discuss the final matters – layout, scale, appearance and landscaping - for Bloor Homes’s plan for the new estate off Beyton Road in the village at Wednesday morning’s meeting.
But Bloor Homes requested the item was pulled from the agenda at the last minute.
Philip Isbell, chief planning officer at the authority, said the developers “have taken stock of the committee report and there are various items in there, including changes to the dormer arrangements, parking arrangements, tree protection and planning which they would like to take stock of and amend before the application is decided.
“This site is the subject of a judicial review – that does not preclude the council from hearing it but the intention on the part of the developer is to achieve a permission which can be developed if they are successful in defending together with ourselves.”
The committee in January 2020 narrowly gave its backing to the outline plans, with formal permission then being approved in December.
But Thurston Parish Council has lodged a judicial review, due to be heard in the high court on October 20 and 21 this year.
The review is on the grounds that the parish council believes district council committee members were wrongly advised on the weight to be given to the neighbourhood plan, which did not allocate the site for development.
It also believes the committee was wrongly advised on planning balance and that the decision prejudices the local plan process, which has not yet been completed.
It is not yet clear when the matter will return to the committee, but it is likely to be after the judicial hearing.
Work cannot begin on building the homes until the final matters receive planning permission.
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