A High Court hearing to decide the fate of one of Newcastle’s most controversial developments has opened, with council bosses “at a loss” to explain why it was approved.

A judge will have the final say on whether almost a 14-storey block of flats, branded by critics as “monolithic”, can be built on one of the last undeveloped plots of land on the Quayside.

The long-running saga over the infamous Plot 12 site had seen Newcastle City Council reject plans for a 14-storey apartment complex in 2021, before that decision was overturned by a government planning inspector after a week-long public inquiry earlier this year.

The local authority then lodged a challenge against the Planning Inspectorate verdict and a statutory review into the decision kicked off on Wednesday.

It had been claimed that the £40m vision from Packaged Living and Robertson Property to develop the Homes England-owned riverside site, which has lain vacant for decades, would “devastate living conditions” for residents next door and “decimate” views to and from the historic St Ann’s Church.

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But inspector Claire Searson ruled in favour of the developers in May, finding that there was “no justification” to deny planning permission in order to wait for an alternative design to come forward on what is “an exceptionally difficult site to develop” – despite the designs not being “exceptional”.

Anjoli Foster, representing the council at Wednesday’s hearing at the Moot Hall, told Mr Justice Holgate that local authority chiefs were “at a loss” to understand how the inspector reached her conclusion.

She argued that Mrs Searson gave undue weight to the fact that the land is in public ownership, that the fact of Homes England’s involvement did not mean the scheme was fully-funded, and the viability of the project was not a material issue.

Ms Foster added that the inspector failed to pay sufficient attention to the impact on St Ann’s Church and concerns raised by Historic England.

The council’s barrister also criticised Mrs Searson’s decision to set aside complaints that some future residents of the building would be forced to live in flats that do not meet required minimum space standards, saying the move caused prejudice to the local authority as it does not know “exactly why the departure is acceptable”. 

Victoria Hutton, representing the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing, and Communities, responded that the viability of the development was clearly a material concern given the “long history of failure of delivery” on Plot 12 over the years, 

She said there was “nothing unlawful” about the decision and that the question of whether the housing scheme can be delivered was never challenged by the city council during the planning inquiry in March.

Ms Hutton added that the inspector’s disagreement with Historic England was “clearly explained” and that there is no objective scale against which to just the level of harm caused by a development, rather it is left at the discretion of the decision-maker.

The statutory review will continue on Thursday.

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