Plymouth City Council faces new legal fight over Crownhill green space

Plymouth City Council is facing a legal challenge over its decision to allow homes to be built on one of the last green spaces remaining on a huge housing estate.

Lawyers have written to the council setting out grounds for a proposed claim for a judicial review of the decision to allow five “affordable” houses to be built at Wilmot Gardens, Crownhill.

The letter was sent by London law firm Goodenough Ring Solicitors on behalf of claimant Frank Hartkopf, a Plymouth resident and Green Party campaigner for the Honicknowle ward. He is described as “acting on his own behalf and with the support of local residents”.

Plymouth City Council has been named as the proposed defendant and construction firm Classic Builders as an interested party. The letter calls for the company not to start work at the site and has given the council until 4pm on Tuesday, November 26, to reply “substantively”. The council told PlymouthLive it is considering the points made by the letter and “will respond in due course”.

Mr Hartkopf has also started a fundraising campaign on the JustGiving site, seeking £3,500 to challenge the council and prevent “our community green with its mature trees and hedgerow” from being “destroyed for the sake of five new homes”. So far, 60 people have donated a total of £1,562.

Last month, the council gave permission for the 1,347sq m council-owned site to be developed, despite more than 50 objections and a long-running campaign by Crownhill residents. The lawyers’ “pre-action” letter sets out two grounds for which it would be seeking a judicial review.

The first is an accusation that the council failed to properly address the affordable housing balance, claiming it did not give reasons for departing from officer’s recommendation in relation to affordable housing, or that the planning application did not reflect the affordable housing requirement for the area.

The second ground is a claim there were “significant and material inaccuracies” in an officer’s report that had the effect of “misleading” the planning committee about the extent of biodiversity loss caused by the housing scheme.

The letter is asking for the council to quash its decision to give planning consent and pay Mr Hartkopf’s costs, and if it doesn’t do this, to explain why. It also wants Classic Builders not to proceed with the development until the final determination of any claim that ends up being filed.

The letter is also claiming cost protection under the Aarhus Convention and wants the council to agree to this or say why it won’t. The convention enshrines public participation in decision-making and access to justice for environmental matters and therefore enables environmental cases to not be prohibitively expensive for claimants. It was recently used by action group Save the Trees of Armada Way (Straw) in its legal challenges over the Armada Way redevelopment.

Mr Hartkopf told PlymouthLive: “Now planning permission has been given there are things that are not quite right, like biodiversity. We have started a crowdfunding campaign, there are costs for lawyers.”

Plans to build on than land at Wilmot Gardens first surfaced more than three years ago and sparked an immediate campaign from residents who set up the Crownhill Local Area Residents Association (Clara). The plans were withdrawn in 2022 after protests, but new ones were submitted in April this year. Clara was then successful in campaigning to have the matter decided by councillors and not officers.

Opposition to the building scheme centred around a huge loss in biodiversity, extra traffic and noise that will be created, and the loss of space for children to play. Council officers even admitted the plans did not “fully comply” with the council’s own policies on delivering sustainable development and for green and play spaces, but were nevertheless important to hit house-building targets and because of the wider public benefits of the scheme and was therefore “on-balance acceptable”, and the application was approved.

A Plymouth City Council spokesperson confirmed it had received the lawyer’s letter and said: “A local environmental campaigner has engaged legal representation regarding the planning committee’s decision to grant approval for five much-needed affordable housing properties at Wilmot Gardens.

"Lawyers have written to the council with a judicial review pre-action protocol letter. We are currently considering the points raised and we will respond in due course.”

Click hereto join PlymouthLive on WhatsApp and we'll send breaking news and top stories directly to your phone. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice