Community group one step closer to saving local playing field

Members of a community group in the deprived area of Wortley, West Leeds, have been granted permission to proceed with a judicial review in their battle to save their local playing field from development by Leeds City Council. On 4^th June 2021, the High Court granted permission to the group to challenge the refusal of the Council to register the playing field as an Asset of Community Value. This follows a victory for the group in an earlier judicial review challenge to the previous refusal of the Council to register the playing field.  In November 2020, that refusal to register was quashed by the High Court by consent on the basis of an accepted error of law in the Council’s decision making.  The Council was forced to accept that the current community uses of the playing field do meet the test of being non-ancillary uses that “further the social wellbeing or social interests of the local community”, notwithstanding that the uses may not have formal permission from the landowner.  The Council’s redetermination of the application and further refusal (made on the basis of their own development intentions for the site) is subject to the current judicial review application which has been granted permission to proceed and has been designated as ‘significant’ by the Planning Court. Jenny Wigley QC represents TV Harrison CIC, the community group, instructed by Ricardo Gama at Richard Buxton solicitors.