Two grain silos and a lorry park can be built near the River Wensum in Norfolk after the Supreme Court threw out a resident's objection.
Matthew Champion claimed North Norfolk District Council had failed to carry out appropriate assessments of the development’s impact on the environment and the river habitat in the event of flooding. The river is a special area of conservation.
In its rejection of the appeal, the Supreme Court noted that two flood risk assessments and an ecological assessment were prepared before council officers decided that a full EIA was not required. At that point the statutory bodies withdrew their objections and consent was granted subject to conditions, including monitoring the river’s water quality.
The council had acknowledged that its initial screening decision was legally defective because it had not identified pollution prevention measures. However, the court said that, although the conditions attached to the planning permission did not remedy the procedural shortcomings, there was nothing to suggest that the council’s decision would have been any different had it followed the correct procedure.
In dismissing the appeal, the judges said the only issue of substance was putting in place measures to achieve adequate hydrological separation between the site’s activities and the river, and these had been agreed with the statutory agencies. The court said what had been required was an appropriate assessment of the pollution risk and this had been done.
