Judicial Review

As anticipated the group calling itself Residents United Residents Association have started the legal process for challenging the planning permission at Moston.

The council have received a letter from solicitors acting on behalf of Residents United Residents Association that seeks the quashing of the planning permission granted to build the ground and community sports facility at Lightbowne Road.

The letter has been issued to the council under what is known as the Judicial Review Pre-Action Protocol. We are assured that the planning application process was conducted lawfully and fairly and it is for the council to respond to the letter, FC United has no part in the process.

The council have 14 days to respond to the letter. On receipt of the council’s response RURA can decide if they have grounds for taking the matter further. There is nothing for FC United to do at this stage.

Details on the protocol and any subsequent process is available on The Ministry of Justice website, notes on Pre-action protocol can be found here:

http://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/protocol/prot_jrv

Judicial Review notes here:

http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/courts/administrative-court/judicial-review.pdf

We have always acknowledged that there is opposition to the proposal to invest up to £5 million in the proposed community facility in Moston and we respect the right of residents to challenge the decision in this way. Over 5,600 residents sent letters of support to the council backing the development and we remain satisfied that the proposed development will benefit the area.

The pre-action protocol process was to be expected as it is a fairly inexpensive course of action but it is not certain that a Judicial Review will follow this pre-action letter. The decision to go to Judicial Review is for RURA and their legal advisers to make after they have had time to assess the council’s response.

Every FC United member and supporter has committed and invested a huge amount already in creating in what we have called a ’better way for football’ but we accept that not everyone agrees with everything we do. This latest challenge won’t be the last but we remain focused on putting the community and supporters at the heart of what we do.