Group’s judicial review hope in school site row

Keith Lucas

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AN action group that opposes plans for the new £19.2 million Saddleworth School in Diggle believes it can win a judicial review against Oldham Council.

Save Diggle Action Group (SDAG) has sent a letter to locals stating that Oldham Council has “once again ignored further legal claims, put forward by Irwin Mitchell Solicitors, requesting refusal of these planning applications”.

This follows the planning committee’s decision on April 13 to back the plans for the second time.

The committee originally approved the proposals on February 25, despite claims it was acting unlawfully because insufficient weight had been given to the impact on listed buildings at the site.

Following legal advice, the council decided to reconsider the plans to prevent the possibility of a judicial review forced by campaigners who want the school to be rebuilt on its current site in Uppermill.

However, in a letter sent out last week SDAG said: “Our next, and we believe our final, battle to get the new Saddleworth School built in Uppermill is to challenge this decision using the judicial review legal process.

“Remember that the highly unpopular road scheme proposals and desecration of the green belt will not happen if the planning approval to build the new school in Diggle is defeated though this judicial review process.

“Irwin Mitchell Solicitors and Robert McCracken QC have advised that there is strong evidence of a flawed site selection process.

“Both the EFA (Education Funding Association) and OMBC omitted any expert assessment of the impact on the listed clock tower building and numerous surrounding listed buildings for the two Diggle options, during site selection.

“OMBC acknowledged that heritage criteria was missing from the EFA’s feasibility study and subsequently tried to rewrite it in on the day of the last planning committee meeting. But they failed to comply with their legal obligation to consider whether the harm to the listed buildings could be avoided altogether by building it on one of the Uppermill shortlisted options as outlined in the EFA’s feasibility study.

“Should a judge rule in our favour, then the planning department cannot continue to ignore the possibility for the new school to be built in Uppermill.

“OMBC will be forced to comply with their legal obligation and refuse these applications, as all harm to the listed buildings in Diggle can be avoided by building the new school in Uppermill.

“We believe we have a strong legal challenge and possibly the best firm of solicitors in the country, with experience of these types of cases, and the country’s foremost environmental and planning barrister acting on our behalf.”

But SDAG says it needs the financial support of locals to continue its campaign and is asking residents to contribute.