Sandal Cat wrote:
We think so as well but they are claiming that as the approved LDF took the land out of greenbelt then the obligations set out in the SoS consent are no longer valid. I cannot believe that the 2 planning inspectors when conducting the respective PI's would have though this but I feel its going to take the High Court or Planning Inspectorate to sort this.
It will also be interesting to see what a Judge's view is on Newcold.
The hardest part is going to be getting this to Law as you can bet your bottom dollar there will be some political manouvering to prevent this.
On the surface, one can see a Judge looking favourably on a volunteer led CT taking on the combined shenanigans of a property developer and an incompetent (at best) LA; particularly if the stated aim is to secure a community facility rather than a gift for a private business. Ducking and diving to avoid meeting the requirements of a s106 agreement is likely to draw the ire of a crusty judge - particularly if counsel can demonstrate that HM's Inspector had a clear intent in his report and recommendations, which has subsequently not been adhered to either in letter or in spirit.
As you say however, actually getting it before the court will be difficult - YC and WMDC will use every dirty trick in the book to avoid being held to account for their actions, or lack of; probably because they understand the above likelihood just as much as we do.
Even so - if it does eventually get to court and his Honour were to order that the stadium be provided as per the original agreement, you can guarantee that YC and WMDC would employ all possible means to delay and obfuscate, such that there could still be years of expensive legal wrangling before anything was delivered.
It's very depressing.
