A JUDICIAL review launched to challenge permission for a 188-home development in Berkeley has been rejected by the High Court.

Stroud District Council requested the decision by a government inspector to overturn its planning refusal be reconsidered by the court because it was felt that its local plan was not properly considered as part of the process.

Held in Bristol on Thursday and Friday, the judicial review hearing considered the council’s challenge but decided that the inspector’s decision had been reached appropriately.

Berkeley Town Council, which supported the development, has welcomed the decision with chairman Liz Ashton saying that extra homes were needed in the area.

“A few years ago we started losing services in the town,” she said. “the town started to go in decline but is still an important hub for the wider community.

“Traders have particularly suffered and having additional homes and additional people will help support the town.

“There is also a real need for homes for families, there are a lot of people who may have grown up in the town and who want to stay here but cannot find a home to live in.

“I do recognise that there are those who are disappointed with the decision but I feel the development will be a boost to the town.”

She also criticised the decision to take the issue to a judicial review saying that the application was being considered well before the local plan came into force and that opposition to the proposal was “never particularly strong”.

A spokesman for Stroud District Council said that despite the “disappointing” outcome they were “confident” that it would not undermine the local plan.

They said: “We are disappointed at the outcome of last week’s hearing as it was felt that the inspector did not properly take into account the policies set out in the Stroud District Local Plan when determining the appeal and in particular those policies relating to the siting of new development and development outside of defined settlement boundaries.

“However, in his judgment, Mr Justice Singh recognised that there is an unusual history to this case.

“The original planning application was made some time before the adoption of the current local plan, a factor which inevitably impacted on the way in which it was determined by first the council, then the inspector and finally the court.

“Because of these exceptional circumstances, we are confident that this judgment will not undermine our local plan by paving the way for further substantial development outside of settlement boundaries.”