Ocado loses legal battle over Islington click-and-collect centre

Supermarket delivery service Ocado has lost a court battle over a planned distribution centre and click-and-collect site in Tufnell Park, Islington. The online store had entered into an agreement in 2019 with landlord Telereal Trillium Ltd to lease four units on the Bush Industrial Estate for use as cold storage and distribution, and Telereal, as a condition, had managed to get the units classified as B8 premises, so that the click-and-collect facility could go ahead. Telereal had done this by applying to Islington Council for a Certificate of Lawful Existing Use or Development (CLEUD), saying that BT had used the property for B8 purposes between 1992 and 2013. When Ocado moved in, according to legal papers, it applied to improve the property, and local residents found out about the change of use. Local residents group Concerned Residents of Tufnell Park took legal advice and its lawyer wrote to the council challenging the grant of CLEUD. Islington agreed that it should not have been granted and withdrew it. Ocado challenged the ruling at the High Court and today (7 June) lost. According to the ruling, lawyers for the residents argued that, in order to qualify for the CLEUD, the B8 use needed have been going on at the time of the application, as well as for more than 10 years. In the circumstances of the case, the B8 use had stopped at least five years before the application. According to the ruling, written by judge Mr Justice Holgate, the case raises many “difficult” points of law. Even so, on balance he found that the council acted correctly when it rescinded the permission for B8 use. This may not be the end of the case, however. The judge said in his ruling: “It may be open to Ocado or Telereal to consider making a further application for a CLEUD relying upon more detailed material and addressing criticisms made in the revocation process.” Ocado Retail Ltd v London Borough of Islington and (1) Telereal Trillium Ltd and (2) Concerned Residents of Tufnell Park Planning Court (Holgate J) 7 June 2021 Photo © Richard Gardner/Shutterstock