Supreme court rules in favour of halting housebuilding in Shrewsbury park

theguardian.com:

Campaigners have won a supreme court appeal to stop houses being built on a park protected by a 100-year-old statutory trust in Shrewsbury, in a landmark ruling for the protection of green spaces.

A judgment handed down on Wednesday after a five-year legal battle ruled in favour of a resident who argued a statutory trust created in 1926 gave residents rights of recreation over the land, even after the council had sold it to a developer.

Dr Peter Day, acting on behalf of Greenfields Community Group, brought the legal challenge and said “the people of Shrewsbury feel completely vindicated by today’s ruling”.

“This saga should never have dragged on for so long and would never have happened if Shrewsbury town council had kept proper records of public land and the statutory trust which granted the people of Shrewsbury rights over the land 100 years ago,” he said.

The judgment will have national implications for other councils who plan to sell off pockets of green space in opposition to residents. “This clarification of the planning law applying to the sale and development of public land is a warning to local authorities and a victory for community groups across the country,” Day added.

The Leigh Day solicitor Stephanie Hill, who represented Day, said the judgment “will be hugely significant for our client and other local community groups who wish to protect their right to open spaces”.

Shrewsbury town council sold a part of Greenfields recreation ground in 2017 to a housing developer, without advertising or consulting the public.

Supreme court justices agreed with Day that Shrewsbury people’s rights over the land were not extinguished by its sale and should have been considered by Shropshire council before they granted planning