Southwark Council is being taken to the High Court in a bid to quash the planning permission to build a stadium on the astro turf. This Judicial Review (JR) is on behalf of local people who disagree with the Council’s decision to let property developers build on Green Dale. The hearing is set for 6th and 7th December 2022.
The legal grounds for this JR are:
(1) A mistake of fact regarding open space deficiency;
(2) A failure to properly apply the policies in respect of Other Open Space;
(3) A failure to apply the policies in respect of play and informal recreation; and
(4) A failure to discharge the public sector equality duty.
In detail:
Mistake of fact regarding open space deficiency – The council Planning Officer said that the planning application site was in Dulwich; it is in fact in Camberwell. According to Southwark’s “Open Space Strategy”, Camberwell has an open space deficiency but the Officer’s Report said the site was not in an area with an open space deficiency.
A failure to apply policies in respect of Other Open Space/open space – The council did not take into account the loss of the Astro-pitch as it is a ‘local park’ and this was required by the policies in relation to Other Open Space.
A failure to apply policies in relation to play and informal recreation – The astro turf is used by a mix of our local community. It is especially used by our local children and young people. The community’s play and informal recreation needs were not properly taken into account by the Southwark Planning Officer.
A failure to discharge the public sector equality duty (PSED) – The PSED says that public bodies like Councils need to consider how their decisions affect people who are protected under the Equality Act. These people have what are known as “protected characteristics” e.g age, gender reassignment, race etc. The Planning Officer’s report states ‘We do not have the statistical data to fully verify and understand the demographics of the users of the Astro-pitch.’ By not assessing who uses the astro turf pitch, Southwark Council did not take into account the protected characteristics of the astro turf pitch’s users such as age and race.