Row over sewerage spills out in court

A row between neighbours Shropshire over sewerage plans for one man’s house has spilled out into London’s High Court.

Henry Williams, of Elm House, Platt Lane, Whixall, said his neighbour’s plans to deal with sewage from a new detached dwelling at 12 Platt Lane were inadequate, and threatened to allow waste to overflow on to his land or into the groundwater.

Today, he won the go-ahead from High Court judge Mr Justice Ouseley to bring a full High Court challenge to North Shropshire District Council’s decision to give the go-ahead for the neighbour Albert Austin to build the house with the proposed “foul and surface water drainage”.

At the same time as granting the go-ahead for a full hearing, however, the judge advised lawyers for Mr Austin to drop their defence of the council’s decision.

He said that the council had not sought to defend its decision, had accepted that it should not stand, and was now willing to consent to an order quashing the decision.

The council granted outline planning permission in 2004. However, because no public foul and surface water drainage facilities were available near the site, it imposed a condition that Mr Austin produce a scheme for a private waster system.

But Mr Williams said that he had a report from an engineer that the proposed system was grossly inadequate and bound to overflow.