Campaigners demand council reveals legal fees ahead of Supreme Court case over recreation ground

Greenfields Community Group has been embroiled in a legal battle over the sale of part of Greenfields Recreation Ground in Shrewsbury for several years.

The group will have its case heard at the highest court in the land next Wednesday, when it will be decided whether planning permission granted by Shropshire Council for homes on the designated community land should have stood.

It comes after Shrewsbury Town Council, which sold the land to CSE Developments to build 15 homes, "unreservedly" apologised for the sale in June, and vowed to help return the land to the community. That followed the publication of the Redfern Report - an independent inquiry into the sale.

Now campaigners are calling for Shropshire Council to say how much the legal fees have cost county taxpayers. They have submitted a freedom of information request to Shropshire Council’s monitoring officer.

"We have asked Shropshire Council how much it is costing to defend its position in The Supreme Court," said Alyson Lanning, from the Greenfields Community Group.

"Only last week the council announced that there is likely to be a ‘very big rise’ in council tax next year for Shropshire residents. Why then is Shropshire Council going to The Supreme Court to fight the unlawful sale of public open space – and against the Greenfields community – their own council taxpayers – and land that is protected for a very good reason?

"It’s absolutely senseless – and will be extremely costly. It has been suggested to us that the legal costs alone, taking into account officer time and expense, could cost Shropshire Council up to a quarter of a million pounds!

"The Recreation Ground is integral to Greenfields Park. This is an irrefutable fact, endorsed by Michael Redfern KC in his independent inquiry report, published in June this year."

The town council is currently waiting for the conclusion of the Supreme Court hearing after receiving "unequivocal" advice not to enter into negotiations with the landowner until the case is resolved.

The campaign group raised more than £60,000 to meet the legal costs of a previous judicial review and court of appeal case. The Good Law Project is backing the group with funding for the Supreme Court case.

A Shropshire Council spokesman said: “We don’t yet have a full break-down of our legal costs although we may need to provide this as part of the Supreme Court proceedings in due course and we can provide it at that time.

“The land transaction was, of course, between the developer and Shrewsbury Town Council. Primarily Mr Redfern KC’s recommendations related to the town council. The legal status of the planning permission is separate to the issue of current or future land ownership and both the High Court and Court of Appeal upheld the legality of that permission. It is Dr Peter Day who has challenged those decisions in the Supreme Court, not Shropshire Council, and it is the court that has determined that the legal issues at stake are of sufficient public importance to warrant consideration.”