St Albans City and District Council is celebrating its high court victory preventing thousands of new homes being built on the green belt in and bordering the District and creating a continuous urban sprawl between neighbouring communities.

Cllr Robert Donald, Leader of St Albans City and District Council, said: “This is a great victory for our council but above all for our residents. It is a real David and Goliath moment. This shows we were right to take legal action despite being originally advised there were high risks and that success was not guaranteed. This result illustrates our unequivocal commitment to defend the green belt and to safeguard the unique character of the natural landscape and the mix of historic city, towns and villages around our District. These proposals would have ruined this unique character for ever. We recognise this is only one battle won and not the whole campaign. I will go on challenging increased housing development proposals in the green belt as long as and as far as I possibly can to save our District from becoming just another Greater London suburb.”

In a landmark legal case the council has successfully challenged the proposals in the East of England Regional Spatial Strategy (the Plan) that related to the development of potentially 5,000 plus homes to the East of Hemel Hempstead, within St Albans District, and more than 1,000 to the west of Hatfield/Welwyn Garden City, actually bordering the District.

This is the first time that any council has successfully brought a legal action in England asking for parts of a Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS) like the East of England Regional Plan, to be quashed.

The government will now be forced to re-examine these particular site proposals in the regional plan. The council will also have to review its current draft Local Development Framework Issues and Options planning document, in the light of this legal decision, and this may mean a small delay in publication and the start of the consultation period.

The council issued legal proceedings, along with Hertfordshire County Council, against the government in June last year seeking to quash those parts of the Plan that relate to proposed housing growth east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield.

Following a three-day hearing in the High Court that ended on 20 May 2009, Mr Justice Mitting found that the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government had not conducted a proper environmental assessment in preparing the Plan. He also ruled that the parts of the Plan that relate to the housing growth to the east of Hemel Hempstead and the west of Welwyn/Hatfield be quashed.

He ordered that the Secretary of State pays the council £15,000 towards over half its legal costs.

Cllr Chris Brazier, deputy leader and portfolio holder for Planning and Conservation, at St Albans City and District Council, said: “The council challenged the East of England Plan in the interests of our residents. I am pleased that the High Court have accepted our arguments that the proposals in the Plan for additional housing were not properly assessed as to their environmental impact.”