What we are doing…
At a public meeting Hungerford Town Council unanimously agreed to pursue a Judicial Review to the permission stage against West Berks Council’s Development Plan Document. This is to stop the Salisbury road allocation.
The process involves a statement of Facts and Grounds being submitted which has now been done. Within 4-6 weeks a judge will decide if the case is worth proceeding to court. Our barrister believes we have a good case. The judge may decide yes to proceed, may wish to see further info from both sides or may dismiss the case.
Cost
The cost to this stage is £13.5k but this could increase to around £35K if it goes to court. We need your help to raise these funds. If we are successful we should get most of our costs back and funders will be reimbursed accordingly.
Why are we doing this
We are not against housing but choice of ‘Land south of the Salisbury Road’ as a development site will cause the most harm on the AONB and the greatest traffic impact on our High St. It sets a dangerous precedent for future planning applications for other locations in the AONB. Conservation of the AONB area is paramount.
Following consultation with residents of Hungerford, you have told us that you are against this development and we are listening and acting on behalf of the town.
The application will not be called in and so a Judicial Review is the only option to challenge the decision.

What we hope to achieve
The desirable outcome would be for WBC to review their strategy and consider alternative sites that don’t damage the AONB. Such sites have been put forward by the Town Council following expert advice from an independent planning consultant.