Supreme Court judgement over Shrewsbury community land row to be handed down this week
A Supreme Court judgement over the granting of planning permission for Shrewsbury community land - which was wrongfully sold in a £550,000 deal - will be handed down this week.
Greenfields Community Group campaigners had their day at the highest court in the land last December, after an ongoing row over the sale of part of Greenfields Recreation Ground in Shrewsbury. Now it has been confirmed the judgement will be handed down this Wednesday, March 1.
The group argued that Shropshire Council failed to consider its rights of recreation over the land when granting permission for 15 homes to CSE Developments. The developer bought the land from Shrewsbury Town Council in 2017.
Dr Peter Day led the legal challenge, which was backed by The Good Law Project. The organisation considered the case to be one of "national significance".
The land was secured for public recreation by a statutory trust in 1926. The town council sold the land to a developer in 2017 without complying with the statutory requirements to discharge the trust.
The authority apologised "unreservedly" to Greenfields residents in an extraordinary meeting last June following an independent inquiry, and vowed to try to help return the land to the community.
Dr Day is appealing a judgment by the Court of Appeal in December 2020 following a dismissal of his application for judicial review in 2019.
