Judge recuses from wind farm case over National Trust, English Heritage membership

The case of East Northamptonshire District Council & Ors v SoS centres on the grant of planning permission for a wind farm that would be built within one mile of a Grade 1 listed building.

The district council had initially refused permission for the construction of four 126.5m wind turbines built within the setting of the Lyveden New Bield site, which also has a registered park and garden.

But a Planning Inspector gave consent for the development on appeal in March this year.

East Northamptonshire teamed up with the National Trust and English Heritage to challenge that decision.

The three organisations began legal proceedings under s. 288 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. It was the first time the district council had taken a case to that level.

The judge, Mr Justice Underhill, concluded that he was automatically disqualified from hearing the case on the basis of his membership of the National Trust and English Heritage.