Planning inspectors were wrong to describe West Oxfordshire District Council’s net zero plans for a garden village as ‘too rigorous’, a High Court judge has ruled.
The local authority said Salt Cross Garden Village, which is to be built between Witney and Oxford, should be fossil fuel free, with 100% of the energy required by its buildings generated from onsite renewables.
But inspectors said the council’s standards for the scheme conflicted with a 2015 written ministerial statement that set out national policy on energy efficiency.
After climate collective Rights Community Action (RCA) launched a legal challenge, Mrs Justice Lieven ruled this week that planning inspectors had acted unlawfully when they said the village did not need to be built to the council’s net zero standards.
She said inspectors were wrong to take the 2015 ministerial statement as an expression of national policy without recognising later law and policy.
Leigh Day solicitor Ricardo Gama, who represented RCA, said: ‘The case is a frustrating example of a local authority trying to take ambitious action on climate change and being hamstrung by confusion in central government and so it’s welcome that the judge has clarified the legal position.’
Council leader Andy Graham said the authority was ‘incredibly pleased’ with the judgement.
He added: ‘We want this to be a groundbreaking, sustainable housing development which is why we pushed for higher standards in regards to net zero carbon homes and energy efficiency.’
The Planning Inspectorate declined to comment.
