Business

Further legal wrangling over proposed John Lewis store in Northern Ireland

A billboard from 2005 advertising the John Lewis store planned for Sprucefield on the outskirts of Lisburn
A billboard from 2005 advertising the John Lewis store planned for Sprucefield on the outskirts of Lisburn A billboard from 2005 advertising the John Lewis store planned for Sprucefield on the outskirts of Lisburn

THE High Court was wrongly drawn into making an order that boosted attempts to secure the first John Lewis store in Northern Ireland, senior judges have heard.

Lawyers for Belfast City Council claimed judicial "rubber-stamping" of an agreement reached between two Stormont departments on a major new planning blueprint should be quashed.

They are appealing the outcome of a legal action which resulted in the lifting of a restriction on future expansion at Sprucefield shopping centre to bulky goods only.

Last November a judge declared that the rest of the Belfast Metropolitan Area Plan (BMAP) could be implemented.

It followed an earlier ruling that former SDLP Environment Minister Mark H Durkan acted unilaterally and unlawfully in authorising BMAP without securing consent from Executive colleagues.

Mr Durkan's approval of the planning framework adopted in 2014 had been challenged by the DUP's Arlene Foster, the Stormont Enterprise Minister at the time.

But consent was later reached by newly created departments on the way forward in the legal action.

Simon Hamilton, the DUP Economy Minister before power-sharing collapsed, and Sinn Fein Minister for Infrastructure Chris Hazzard, agreed on a proposal to have BMAP adopted without the bulky goods restriction.

In a further twist to the saga, however, Belfast City Council is now challenging the resolution reached.

Stewart Beattie QC argued in the Court of Appeal today that it was constitutionally wrong to have a judge make the order amending BMAP.

Only the administration at Stormont should deal with changes to the planning policy, he contended.

During the hearing Lord Justice Weir repeatedly questioned why the High Court judge had been "prevailed upon" to make the order.

In a reference to the amount of litigation over Sprucefield, he added: "The amount of ink spilled on this case by the various parties is prodigious, even by the standards of the Northern Ireland Bar."

Reserving judgment on the appeal, the court pledged to give a decision as soon as possible.