Weston Homes and Columbia Threadneedle are pushing ahead with attempts to have housing secretary Robert Jenrick’s refusal of a scheme in Norwich overturned.
Jenrick went against the planning inspector’s recommendations when he refused the 1,250-home, £271m Anglia Square project. Weston Homes chief executive Bob Weston said last month that the company would take the matter to the High Court, calling the decision “undemocratic and commercially unjustified”.
Weston Homes and Columbia Threadneedle have now applied to the High Court asking for a statutory review under section 288 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. The case could then be the subject of a full hearing as soon as the spring.
Weston said: “Having taken legal advice at the highest level, Weston Homes and Columbia Threadneedle have decided that we should take High Court action and seek to get Robert Jenrick’s decision overturned.
“At a time of extreme economic hardship and with Norwich on the edge of a deep recession, the secretary of state chose to refuse a massive investment opportunity for the city. His decision flies in the face of government policy on housing delivery and encouraging brownfield-land regeneration in order to protect the green belt.”
The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government was contacted for comment.
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