A High Court judge has dismissed a legal challenge by Wiltshire Council against planning permission granted for a major development at Old Sarum Airfield, rejecting arguments that a fire which damaged a historic hangar after the decision rendered it invalid.
The case concerned outline planning permission for up to 315 homes, commercial and leisure uses, and a ‘flying hub’ at the airfield near Salisbury, which contains three Grade II* listed First World War aircraft hangars. Hangar 3, one of the listed buildings, was in very poor condition and considered at ‘immediate risk of further rapid deterioration’ on Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Register.
Planning Inspector Fagan granted permission in April 2025 following a nine-day public inquiry. A key factor in the decision was the restoration of Hangar 3, secured through a condition preventing occupation of homes until repair works were completed.
Eight days after the decision, on 17 April 2025, Hangar 3 was extensively damaged by fire. Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue initially recorded the cause as ‘deliberate’, but a subsequent police investigation concluded the cause was ‘undetermined’. The developer’s insurers met a claim for damage to other buildings in full.
Wiltshire Council sought to quash the planning permission, arguing that the fire had fundamentally changed the factual basis of the Inspector’s decision. It contended that the restoration of Hangar 3 – described by the Inspector as the ‘prime benefit’ of the scheme – could no longer be delivered as envisaged, and that the decision had been vitiated by ‘external injustice’.
But Mrs Justice Lang, sitting in the High Court, rejected both grounds of challenge.
On the first ground, she held that the Inspector’s decision was lawful when made and could not be rendered unlawful by a subsequent event. ‘A subsequent event, such as the fire, cannot retrospectively render a lawful decision unlawful,’ she said. To hold otherwise would ‘inevitably undermine the certainty of planning decision-making, which developers rely upon.’
On the second ground, the judge found no evidence that the developer did not intend to restore Hangar 3. Since the fire, the company had submitted a structural survey, design report, and revised cost plan to discharge a condition of the listed building consent. The additional work required was estimated at £688,638, bringing total restoration costs to around £3.29 million.
‘The next step is for the claimant to consider and approve the proposed works,’ the judge said. ‘If and insofar as it does not approve them, then planning officers should negotiate with the developer on suitable amendments.’
The judge also criticised the council’s delay, noting that the developer’s application to discharge the relevant condition had been registered but not yet determined. ‘The unnecessary delay caused by this claim is regrettable,’ she said.
Wiltshire Council was ordered to pay the developer’s costs, subject to detailed assessment if not agreed. The Secretary of State’s agreed costs of £18,512 were also payable.
Photo: Richard Gosler
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