Developer wins High Court battle over ‘iconic’ Staines Debenhams

A property developer that plans to demolish Staines-on-Thames’ former Debenhams department store and build a 226-dwelling residential development has won a High Court battle with the local council. The store closed in 2020. In 2021, the property’s owner, Future High Street Living (Staines) Ltd, applied to redevelop the site, a 1950s building built in the art deco style. The proposal met with much local opposition, according to a judgment handed down today (28 March). Objectors said the development would lead to the “loss of an iconic building” and that it should be retained and converted, not demolished. In June 2022, the planning application was refused by Spelthorne Borough Council. In addition, the council put the building on its local list of buildings that should be protected, and extended Staines’ conservation area to include the store. This was despite the fact that Historic England had already been asked to list the building but had refused, saying it was not of sufficient architectural value. Future High Street Living challenged the decision to add the building to the local list and extend the conservation area. In a hearing at the High Court in London in February, lawyers for the owner said the council did not properly take account of their arguments during a consultation, and that the officer’s reports were “seriously misleading”. In today’s ruling, trial judge Mr Justice Lane backed the owner and quashed the council’s decision to list the building and extend the conservation area. According to the ruling, reports made by planning officers for the planning committee failed to mention that Historic England had rejected an application to list the building. Lawyers for the owner said this was “seriously misleading”. In his ruing, the judge agreed. “In the present case, there was a clear need to provide members with a fair and balanced analysis of the architectural worth of the building,” the ruling said. “This included informing them of the outcome of the approach made to Historic England regarding possible statutory listing. Although that outcome was not determinative of the view members could have taken of the building… it was obviously material,” the judge said. “So too was the fact that, in both 2004 and 2016, the building had not been regarded as sufficiently important to merit even local listing. While views can, of course, change over time, an understanding of that fact was necessary to reach an informed decision,” the judge ruled. The judicial review succeeded on three of the four grounds argued. The council can now attempt to challenge the decision at the Court of Appeal or reconsider its decisions to add the building to the local list and extend the conservation area. Future High Street Living (Staines) Ltd v Spelthorne Borough Council Planning Court (Lane J) 28 March 2023 Photo © Corstorphine & Wright