| Topic: | Latest news on FoPC's legal challenge to lack of an EIA | |
| Posted by: | Nicholas Evans | |
| Date/Time: | 30/11/12 11:17:00 |
| 30th November 2012 Latest news on challenge to lack of EIA - exchange of letters between solicitors representing FoPC and WBC To avoid an 'Environmental Impact Assessment' (EIA) in January 2012 the Council provided itself with a 'screening opinion report' in which they justified their unusual decision not to undertake a full assessment of the environmental risks involved in their proposed development of flats and a 2FE school adjacent to Putney Common on the old Putney Hospital site. FoPC obtained a detailed opinion from Barrister Philip Petchey which demonstrated that the screening opinion was not valid, and therefore the planning approval unlawful. As the Council had previously brushed aside objections to the lack of an EIA, the Friends have begun the process which will lead to a judicial review. The first step was to send a 'Pre-action Protocol Letter' from FoPC's solicitor explaining the reasons behind the challenge to their actions. This letter was sent on the 13th of November and gave WBC 14 days to respond. In the screening opinion the Council included the following statement: "A transport assessment of the proposed development concludes that the proposals should not result in any significant additional traffic on the local highway than previously experienced. There should therefore be no significant traffic impact as a result of the proposal". On the 27th of November a reply from Sharpe Pritchard acting for the Council was received. It was something of a surprise therefore that in their defence of their actions they state in this letter: "When adopting its screening opinion, the Council had not been provided and therefore did not have regard to any formal transport assessment submitted for or on behalf of the applicant for planning permission. (FoPC note: We had assumed that they had seen an early copy of the flawed Vectos report published in the following month). The reference within the report which led to the screening opinion to a "transport assessment" is directed at an officer's assessment as to the transport implications of the proposed development". This assessment was not included with their letter. FoPC's solicitors (Richard Buxton Environmenal and Planning) have requested a copy of the "assessment" urgently. All the documents mentioned above can be viewed and downloaded from the home page of the FoPC website - www.friendsofputneycommon.org Nick |