Trafford Council Appeal Against Decision to Grant Planning Permission

Following the devastating decision of the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government and Conservative MP, Eric Pickles, Trafford Council Leader and Conservative Councillor, Matthew Colledge, instructed Trafford Council to seek advice from expert lawyers to identify if any legal grounds existed from which an appeal could be launched.

Concerned Davyhulme and Flixton Councillors Lisa Cooke, Mike Cornes, June Reilly and Viv Ward also called an emergency meeting of the Conservative group, last night, to assess the potential options available to the Conservative controlled Council in responding to the advice received.

The advice confirmed that there appears to be reasonable grounds from which the Council can appeal the Secretary of State’s decision and accordingly, Trafford Conservatives have instructed the Council’s lawyers to seek leave to appeal the decision at the High Court.

Trafford Conservatives and North West MEP Sajjad Karim have expressed their sincere disappointment at the Secretary of State’s recent decision.

Councillor Lisa Cooke, Davyhulme East, commented ‘this is the right decision for local people and continues to demonstrate that local Conservative councillors are on residents’ side and will not hesitate to continue fighting this development.’

Davyhulme East Councillor Mike Cornes remarked ‘this decision demonstrably proves that a Conservative-controlled Council is more than willing to stand up and be counted when defending the best interests of our Borough and the people who choose to live in Trafford.’

Flixton Ward Councillor Viv Ward stated her commitment to continue fighting the plant and said ‘as Chairman of the Planning Committee that unanimously refused the original planning application, I am resolute that the original decision made was the right one and that we should be allowed to determine these matters locally.’

Davyhulme West Councillor June Reilly added her absolute support to opposing the plant and observed that ‘Conservative Councillors are on the side of hard working Trafford residents who oppose this development and will continue to do everything possible to stop it from happening.’

An appeal against the decision will be lodged with the High Court early next week.