Legal battle in school flats scheme

Lawyers for the Clifton Preservation Group have started proceedings for a judicial review of the decision by City of York Council to grant Barratts planning permission for the development in The Avenue.

But they fear their legal action could be too late to stop the development - which is set to come before councillors again on January 31.

Stephen Prophet, from the group, said they hoped to question several aspects of how planning permission was granted in October last year.

One of the grounds was the fact that an environmental impact assessment had not been included in the planning officers' report to councillors.

Mark Blackburn, senior solicitor for the council, said they were contesting the group's application and said a decision on whether a judicial review would go ahead was expected in February.

Group members now fear that the review will be overtaken by a new application by Barratts to develop the site in The Avenue, which is set to be decided at the planning meeting on January 31.

Richard Graham, development control officer for the council, said: "The applicants, Barratts, have now submitted another planning application rather than wait for the outcome of the judicial review."

He said council officers would this time spell out why they believed the applicants did not need to submit an environmental impact assessment.

Meanwhile, residents are also accusing the council of dragging its heels in deciding on their application for an extension to Clifton Conservation Area to include the prep school site, which was submitted last summer.

Cliff Carruthers, head of development control at the council, said the application was likely to come before a meeting in February, but denied there was any connection with the Barratt's application.

He said the delay was more likely to be a result of the heavy workload for officers caused by preparation needed for the Coppergate inquiry.

Updated: 11:55 Monday, January 14, 2002