Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Developers accuse green campaigner of hypocrisy
Communities secretary decision remains
The man behind Canterbury’s biggest ever housing development has accused a clean air campaigner who opposed it of being a hypocrite after learning she is the director of an international freight company.
Emily Shirley forced a judicial review of Corinthian’s 4,000-home Mountfield Park scheme, arguing the extra traffic it generated would breach air quality rules.
But on Friday a High Court judge dismissed the case led by Mrs Shirley, who lives in Bridge and says Canterbury City Council should not have granted planning permission for the homes last December.
She has now been branded hypocritical by Corinthian managing director Simon Wright after he learned she is a director of Dover-based John Shirley Ltd.
The freight forwarding firm, which bears her husband’s name, arranges deliveries across Europe and has looked after 23,000 consignments since it was formed 18 years ago.
After the hearing on Thursday, Mr Wright said: “We are obviously pleased that Emily Shirley’s latest legal challenge in respect of Mountfield Park The thrust of the case brought by Emily Shirley and the Wincheap Society’s Michael Rundell is that communities secretary, Sajid Javid, should have ‘called in’ the decision to grant Corinthian outline planning permission for Mountfield Park.
Mr Javid refused, insisting the final say is with Canterbury City Council and its planning committee – a decision the campaigners called “irrational and perverse”.
But at the High Court on Friday, Mr Justice Dove ruled that there was no flaw in Mr Javid’s decision and emphasised that the council has yet to make a final decision on whether or not to grant full planning consent.
Concerns about nitrogen
in relation to air quality has failed.
“The High Court agreed with Corinthian that none of the grounds of legal challenge raised by Mrs Shirley’s legal team were valid and she was ordered to pay costs.
“As a board we were somewhat surprised, given Mrs Shirley’s stated concern oxide pollution in Canterbury saw the city designated as an air quality management area as long ago as 2006.
But Corinthian Mountfield says its research indicates that the development will not result in acceptable nitrogen oxide levels being exceeded.
Air quality specialist Professor Stephen Peckham disagreed and insisted that levels of pollutants in the air had been underestimated.
The judge said the council obtained its own expert advice from consultants who did not predict that thresholds would be exceeded.
Prof Peckham remained concerned, but the consultants’ report set the scene for Mr Javid’s decision to leave the issue in council hands.
regarding air quality, to discover that she is a director of a road haulage company, given that road haulage vehicles are one of the major causes of congestion and pollution.
“This seems slightly hypocritical and very inconsistent with her publicly stated position.”
Mrs Shirley says John Shirley Ltd is not a road haul-
Upholding that decision, Mr Justice Dove said there was “no substance” in objectors’ claims that Mr Javid had to make the critical decision himself.
Mrs Shirley said: “We were disappointed, but then not surprised. We did think the judgement was a poor one.
“We are at the moment considering whether to seek permission to appeal it.
“First, we need to look at the cost implications going forward. We need to ask how much that is going to be and whether it runs into the hundreds of thousands.”
Mrs Shirley and other clean air campaigners are today (Thursday) meeting Green Party MEP Keith Taylor in Canterbury to discuss pollution problems.
age firm and describes it as a “freight forwarding” company, which arranges transport by road and train, but did not own its own fleet of lorries.
“This is shameful,” she said. “It’s slander and Corinthian should be very careful. I felt quite intimidated at court by them and this looks like another form of intimidation.”