Pembrokeshire Coast National Park has won its legal battle to allow a new £60m holiday village to go-ahead in the county. Three Supreme Court of Appeal judges on Wednesday unanimously ruled that the authority's planning consent for the Bluestone leisure development is legal. The judgement upholds an earlier High Court decision which concluded that the authority's planning committee had correctly taken into account economic benefits in granting approval. Said Lord Justice Maurice Kay: "In my judgement, the authority was faithful to S54A. It properly considered the development plan and concluded that material considerations indicated otherwise," adding: "It is not and cannot be disputed that these were material considerations." The watchdog, the Council for National Parks (CNP), which challenged the High Court's decision to allow the scheme, said it was "deeply disappointed" and claimed the development would "desecrate" the countryside. Speaking after the announcement, however, Clr. Stephen Watkins, chairman of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority, stated: "We are pleased with the unanimous decision reached by the Court of Appeal, that the authority's approval of the Bluestone development was lawful, and that CNP's appeal should be dismissed. "As an authority we are all very pleased that the care with which we have approached the complex and challenging Bluestone development, and the exhaustive process undertaken by officers and members has again been vindicated by the court." Bluestone chief executive William McNamara also welcomed the ruling. "We are delighted with this unanimous decision which was not unexpected," he said. "Bluestone has now passed every legal, democratic and environmental test laid before it by two planning committees, 10 statutory advisors, an independent Ombudsman, a High Court judge and finally three Lord Justices at the Supreme Court of Appeal. That is seven professional judgements that all bear witness to the propriety of the Bluestone decision and this clears the way for work to begin on this major new holiday village development in the UK." "It is very relevant that in his judgement, Lord Justice Maurice Kay notes specific site factors such as the proximity of the site to the edge of National Park, the major theme park development beyond its boundaries and the proposed landscaping features of the development. The judgement also makes it clear that the authority's decision does not override planning policy. The simple fact is, ecologically, Bluestone will enhance, not damage, this National Park area. "True to form, Council for National Parks applied for leave to appeal to the House of Lords to cause further delay despite the fact that legally they have no chance of success. However, that permission was refused by the court and we are now in a position to move ahead with the development. We anticipate being on site later this year. "In the meantime, we will be asking serious questions about how a lobbying organisation is able to continuously pursue a weak case, forcing defence costs of more than £100,000 on the taxpayer, against all legal rulings; and how can we prevent the democratic process from being hijacked by organisations seeking to delay properly- approved developments. To continuously ignore definitive legal judgements is wholly irresponsible and we will be urging the Government to address these issues as a matter of great urgency." At the hearing, Council for National Parks was ordered to pay Pembrokeshire Coast National Park costs for the Court of Appeal.
