The defendant NHS Trust had breached s 242(1B)(b) and (c) of the National Health Service Act 2006 by failing to make arrangements which had secured that service users had been involved: (i) in the development and consideration of the proposals for the designation of the hospital as a ‘Green site’ (namely that there would be no Covid-19 related treatment on the site); and (ii) in the making of the decision itself. The Administrative Court, in allowing the claim in part and in construing the relevant section of the Act, held that, ultimately, the question was whether the arrangements, looked at as a whole, had secured the opportunity for meaningful involvement or participation in the specified matters, and that the relevant duty contemplated service user involvement before the event, and at the formative stage. The court held that, on the facts, it was just and convenient to grant the claimant service user declaratory relief.
Holiday log cabins refused permission );
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PLANS to build up to seven log cabins on land off Tidmore Lane, Woodcote, have been refused permission.
Marcellus Brown, from Harrow, wanted to set up a holiday site with associated hot tubs, a sewage treatment plant, parking and landscaping.
The two- and three-bedroom cabins were to be mobile structures which would have been built off site.
Mr Brown argued that his scheme should be given the go-ahead because a similar one exists in Ewelme.
But planning officers at South Oxfordshire District Council recommended refusal, saying the cabins would harm the character of the area, affect neighbours’ quality of life and pose a road safety hazard.
Horse jumps need consent
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THE owner of a new equestrian centre at Woodcote is seeking retrospective planning permission for three permanent jumps and a shallow earth mound.
Diana Rhodes, who opened Chiltern Cross Country, off Oxford Road, last month, already has planning permission for a car park and the use of mobile jumps on the 11-hectare site. However, she has reinforced some natural features like ridges and dips with logs or support beams and South Oxfordshire District Council, the planning authority, says that this makes them permanent.
Ms Rhodes, who owns the land with her partner Guy Hildred, accepts the mound didn’t have consent but she thought neighbours would be in favour as it screens the site from view.
Four more new houses
FOUR new homes could be built in Woodcote.
Bella Vista Developments, of Aldermaston, wants to demolish an existing house and build two pairs of semi-detached properties on a 0.12-hectare plot behind neighbouring properties in Gap Way, a cul-de-sac off Whitehouse Road.
They would be built next to a development of four other homes which was awarded planning permission by South Oxfordshire District Council last year.
The applicant says the houses would meet high environmental standards.
The council is due to make a decision by June 4. Planning officers have said the plan is acceptable in principle. );
Struggling theatre plans flats to bring in revenue );
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THE Mill at Sonning wants to convert a building used for rehearsals and accommodation into two homes to help it recover from the coronavirus pandemic.
The theatre, which is due to re-open on May 17, was granted planning permission to convert the two upper floors of the former watermill into flats in 2017.
It was also given consent to turn the two-storey building, which is separate from the main building, into homes but the conversion was never completed.
Now the Mill has applied to South Oxfordshire District Council, the planning authority, for permission to convert it into two three-bedroom homes.