Tesco fails in bid to stop Surrey Lidl store

Supermarket giant Tesco has failed in a High Court bid stop rival Lidl from building a store in Horley, Surrey. Lidl already has a store in Horley town centre that, according to court papers, it considers no longer fit for purpose. The retailer wants to build a bigger store on the site of a pub called The Air Balloon on Brighton Road. A planning officer at Reigate and Banstead Borough Council recommended that planning permission for the project should be refused, saying that it would result in the complete loss of the pub, which is a locally listed non-designated heritage asset, and also finding that it would do harm to a Grade II listed war memorial. However, in October last year when local councillors met to discuss the report, they overruled the planning officers and approved the development. They decided that the public benefits of the new supermarket outweigh the potential harm to heritage assets. Tesco, which operates a nearby Tesco Express store, brought a High Court challenge to the decision, arguing that the councillors did not give proper weight to the preservation of the war memorial, and did not give adequate reasons for deviating from the planning officer’s report. The case went to trial in June and a ruling handed down today by James Strachan KC, sitting as judge, rejected both arguments. During the trial the court considered transcripts of the council meeting that approved the project. With regards to the war memorial “both the tenor of the debate, as well as the comments relied upon by the claimant when read in context” demonstrate that the councillors properly considered the status of the war memorial. He also found that the councillors properly explained their reasons for disagreeing with the planning officer. “I consider there is no genuine doubt as to why the Committee reached the conclusion it did,” he said in the ruling. “I do not consider a fair reading of the transcript in order to identify the tenor of the debate, or a close reading of members’ comments … assists the claimant’s criticisms. “To the contrary, the tenor of the debate demonstrates that members were undertaking the balancing exercise that was required of them, albeit in a context where they had been advised correctly as to the correct approach to adopt to harm to the heritage assets. “The tenor of the debate demonstrates that members were carefully considering the question of harm to the heritage assets as compared with the benefits of the delivery of a new store in this location … but where members were entitled to reach a different overall outcome which did not require further amplification or clarification for the reasons to be legally adequate.” The judge ruled that he rejected both grounds. Tesco Stores Ltd v Reigate and Banstead Borough Council and others Planning Court (James Strachan KC) 11 September 2024 Photo © Maureen McLean/Shutterstock