Full re-run of LDP decision confirmed – with warning non adoption could cost taxpayers £50k-£100k

Council officers have warned a repeat of April’s Local Development Plan vote could cost taxpayers “up to £100,000” in legal costs.

The detail has emerged as papers have now been published ahead of the Extraordinary Full Council meeting next week, although they do not contain the identity of the complainants nor the full counsel advice, or copies of correspondence that some councillors had been seeking.

The description of those mounting a legal challenge matches the wording given in the Senedd on Wednesday,  a “consortium of private sector developers”.

In the documents Wrexham Council Officers tell councillors, “Following the decision at Council on 19 April, a Letter Before Claim was received relating to this decision. This is the first stage of an application to the High Court for Judicial Review. Judicial Review is a challenge to public law decision making and is a procedure for the court to examine the decision of a public body to check whether it acted lawfully and fairly.”

“Following receipt of the Letter Before Claim, advice was sought from an experienced planning/administrative law barrister. The advice received is unequivocally clear: the judicial review claim has overwhelming merit and the Council has undoubtedly acted unlawfully. Counsel’s advice concludes that there are no grounds whatsoever for defending the judicial review claim. On this basis and in order to minimise costs as far as possible, the Council has no plausible option but to concede that an unlawful decision had been made on 19 April.”

New detail has been made public, with the council saying following the Letter Before Claim, an application for Judicial Review was issued by the court and served on the Council as Defendants.

They give a summary of the Judicial Review application that is is seeking the following orders:

a) An order that the decision of the Council taken at its Extraordinary Meeting on 19 April 2023 be quashed;
b) A declaration that the decision of the Council taken at its Extraordinary Meeting on 19 April 2023 was unlawful;
c) A declaration that the Council’s consequential failure to adopt the local development plan on or before 24 April 2023 was unlawful;
d) Unless the Council undertakes to comply with the terms of the declaration sought, a mandatory order requiring the Defendant to adopt the local development plan forthwith; and
e) An order that the Council do pay the Claimants’ costs

As a result councillors have the exact same recommendations before them as they did back in April – to formally adopt “Wrexham Local Development Plan 2013 – 2028”.

Councillors are advised, by specific senior officers, “During the LDP process and subsequent judicial review proceedings we have been advised by three separate legal external sources, all of which are experts in planning/administrative law. All have advised that the LDP must be adopted by Council. While fully respecting the democratic process of the Council and that full Council will take a democratic decision, given that Council is subject to the law and to achieve the best financial value, the professional advice from the Chief Executive, Chief Officer Planning and Economy, Chief Officer Governance and Customer and Chief Officer Finance and ICT has to be to adopt the LDP.”

The detail of ‘what happens next’ for a repeat non-adoption vote is given, “If Council fails to adopt the LDP on 14 June the judicial review proceedings will continue and court orders will be imposed on the Council to adopt the LDP. The court orders will include that the Council has to pay the costs of the Claimant.

“Council officers are now dealing with the legal proceedings and seeking to minimise the legal costs incurred as far as possible. However, the longer the proceedings continue, the more costs are incurred by the Council and the greater the costs that will be due to the Claimant. The costs of the judicial review case proceeding to court are estimated to be between £50k – £100k. There is no budget provision or insurance for those costs.”

Although the interest in the LDP mess appears narrow outside political circles, with limited media interest, the reputational damage to Wrexham Council is referenced as “…continued media and social commentary on Wrexham Council acting unlawfully which will impact on the perception of the Council and Wrexham”.

A technical point of the decision being revisited so soon is also addressed, one that has been queried by several councillors, “Under the Council’s Constitution, a motion or amendment in similar terms to one that has been rejected at a meeting of Council in the past six months cannot usually be moved again. However, in these circumstances where a Judicial Review application seeking court orders against the Council has been served, the law overrides the Constitution.”

Councillors have been told they are free, again, to vote for or against the recommendation but with another nod towards the 10 Principles of Public Life, that includes the duty to uphold the law: “Members must act to uphold the law and act on all occasions in accordance with the trust that the public has placed in them”.

As it was back in April; To adopt, or not adopt: that is the question…

As we have documented it appears groups are looking set to repeat their vote from 56 days prior, with the actual Local Development Plan before them unchanged from the last debate. ​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

The meeting will be held on Wednesday at 4pm in the Guildhall, webcast for all to view.