Lambeth council planners face a new judicial review of their actions after their decisions on consultation over plans to demolish the Cressingham Gardens estate were ruled unlawful.
The leaseholders of Brixton’s 414 Club have now won the right to challenge the council’s planning decision to allow its home on Coldharbour Lane to be turned into a retail outlet and three flats.
Anthony Pommell and Louise Barron said they had been “shocked and disappointed” that the application for the change had not been put before the full planning committee despite more than 450 letters of objection and three petitions with over 2,300 signatures.
The application for a judicial review said the council had not adequately followed guidelines laid out in its own statement of community involvement and its unitary development plan (UDP).
The UDP said that: “Public involvement is a key component of the planning process. If strategies such as the new plan are to reflect the priorities of local people and local businesses, then there needs to be genuine engagement from the outset.”
The 414 has been a fixture of Brixton nightlife for 30 years and hosts weekly techno, hard house and psychedelic trance nights on Fridays and Saturdays, as well as 24-hour parties.
Louise Barron said the judge who granted the application was not persuaded that the council had made the right decision and wanted both the 414 leaseholders and the council to appear before him at a date still to be decided.
She said court administration fees had all been paid by two fund raising parties – Keeping the Vibe Alive and TransLucid.
A change.org petition to Reject the Planning Application for Closing Club 414 needs fewer than 200 signatures to reach its target of 2,500.
[…] news came soon after another venue, the 414 Club in Brixton, was granted a judicial review of Lambeth council’s agreement that it should be converted to flats and a […]