A PLAN for 200 homes in Lydney could be back on the cards, five months after a residents’ group thought it had won their battle against it.

In December, Communities Secretary Greg Clark dismissed an appeal against the refusal of planning permission for the homes off Driffield Road.

But now the government now faces a challenge to Mr Clark’s refusal of the so-called Allaston development.

Mr Clark decided as secretary of state he would make the decision on the appeal which had been lodged after the Forest Council refused planning permission.

The appeal went ahead and was heard by a planning inspector whose recommendation the appeal be allowed was overturned by Mr Clark.

Forest councillor Alan Preest, whose Lydney North ward includes the site, said he was “devastated” for local campaigners who had clubbed together to pay to be represented by a barrister at the appeal last November.

He said weaknesses in the National Planning Policy Framework and the way local policies interacted were key to getting the Secretary of State’s decision overturned.

The Department for Communities and Local Government has ‘consented to judgement’ following a High Court hearing which granted Allaston Developments Ltd the right to challenge Mr Clark’s appeal refusal.

A judge decided a challenge was warranted and a hearing would take place in Bristol in the first week of June.

Developer Mr Brian Bennett, of Allaston Developments Ltd, declined to comment.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Communities said they could not comment because the matter is before the court.

At the initial hearing in Cardiff, Mr Justice Coulson allowed the challenge on the grounds of the use of the Lydney Neighbourhood Development Plan and the emerging Applications Publications Plan in determining the appeal.

Justice Coulson also allowed the appeal on the ground that the Secretary of State may not have given sufficient weight to the benefits of the proposal.

In his observations, the judge said the Secretary of State had “unusually” disagreed with the inspector on matters of fact rather than interpretation of policy.

He also said that by not identifying benefits that were not specific to the site, the Secretary of State had made it impossible for the developers to address that part of the decision.

Cllr Preest said: “If the government cannot defend an appeal, what chance have we got?”

The UKIP councillor added: “There are weaknesses in the National Planning Policy Framework that have to be addressed so that everyone – the council, developers and residents – know where they are.

“We also need to ensure that local policies integrate together and with the national policy.”