Rural society wins legal battle against Government over Greater Anglia station car park

A rural society has won a judicial review against a planning inspector’s decision to approve a station car park extension.

Dedham Vale Society (DVS) in Essex took the Secretary of Stage for Housing Communities and Local Government to court (RAIL 1022) after the Planning Inspectorate refused to let Tendring District Council (TDC) take enforcement action against Greater Anglia (GA) over its extension at Manningtree.

Completed in 2020, 236 spaces across two storeys were added along with a 190-metre-long steel retaining wall (likened to the Berlin Wall), a bike shelter and high intensity lights. Enforcement proceedings had been sought for the demolition of the development, which backs onto the St Edmund Way pilgrimage footpath in the Dedham Vale National Landscape.

GA said it had been able to “rely on permitted development rights” to circumvent the normal planning process, while the inspector said in a screening direction in May 2024 an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), which would have determined if the site had a significant effect on the surrounding area, was not needed.

She ruled the car park “would not be of a scale and nature likely to result in significant environmental effects”. This forced TDC to withdraw the enforcement notice it served on GA in February 2024.

The case was due to be heard in the High Court but, following support from Campaign for National Parks (CNP), Housing Secretary Angela Rayner admitted an “error or law” had been made.

She accepted the failure to apply the duty that requires bodies to seek to protect National Landscapes (formerly known as Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty) from developments which do not follow Section 85 of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000. This admission quashed the 2024 decision which was ruled unlawful.

The act says official bodies “must seek to further the purpose of conserving and enhancing the natural beauty of the area of outstanding natural beauty”.

Charles Clover, Chairman of DVS, said: "This is an enormously important victory for the Vale and for protected landscapes everywhere. It means the new statutory duty on official bodies to 'conserve and enhance' National Landscapes and National Parks in their decisions must be complied with by all official bodies.”

Dr Rose O'Neill from CNP, described the victory as “hugely significant”. She added: “This whole case could have been avoided if Government and developers complied with the law in the first place.”

Despite the Government admitting the error, GA has refused to follow suit. The consent order said the operator “makes no concession about the substance of the claim or whether the decision might have been different were the statutory duty applied”.

A spokesman told RAIL it “acknowledges the outcome”, but it “would not be appropriate to comment further” while the Planning Inspectorate re-examines the screening direction.

Asked if TDC could restart enforcement action against GA, a spokesman said: “We await the government’s review of its screening direction in relation to Manningtree station car park, following which the Council will consider its position.”

The Government must also pay DVS’ £35,000 legal costs.