Posted 16th January 2018 | 1 Comment
Legal challenge to controversial Wolverton demolition plan
As the site appeared earlier in January (Phil Marsh)
THE demolition of Wolverton railway works in Buckinghamshire may face the scrutiny of a High Court judge, after several years of controversy over the future of the site.
Property development company St Modwen could build up to 375 houses on half the 15 hectare site with the remainder allocated for industrial use. This could include a new, but much smaller railway works. The £100 million scheme had been given the green light by Milton Keynes Borough Council.
The first planning application was lodged on 5 August 2015. Three planning hearings were required after ‘irregularities’ by the council were uncovered by Freedom of Information and other data requests and intervention from Historic England.
Homes and communities secretary Sajid David refused to intervene, but Historic England has revealed that the ‘deeply flawed’ and ‘unsustainable' plans are now set to face a Judicial Review.
A spokesman for HE said: “The first step has been to notify the Council and St Modwen’s of our intention. Unless they both indicate that they will not oppose the quashing of the planning permission (which seems unlikely), the next stage is to seek leave for the matter to be heard in the High Court.”
Railnews has invited St Modwen to comment.
Reader Comments:
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Roger Capel, Sheffield
As an ex-Wolvertonian in the days of "death by a thousand cuts", when we came back from holiday to find another bit had been sold off, developer beware! The contamination under the onetime accumulator shop went down 18 meters, the joinery shop was so infested with rats that it was sealed off as a danger to human health & all the old hands were full of how much dumped asbestos was buried where.
Look at the fiasco with Crimpsall shop in Doncaster for an earlier example!