Church Stretton Library: Judge shows surprise that legal aid granted to Mr Williams in his claim for Judicial Review against the Council

Judge shows surprise that legal aid granted to Mr Williams in his claim for Judicial Review against the Council.

Mr Williams lives 0.1 miles away from the proposed relocation of an enhanced             library which was to be part of the Church Stretton School.

A campaign group said that they had deliberately put Mr Williams forward as he was a “man of straw”. This enabled them to ensure that the Council could not get its legal costs against him yet he had the benefit of public money via legal aid. 

The campaign group had failed to accept an offer made in 2015 to make an application under the Localism Act if it wanted to run the library. Had it done so then it would almost certainly have prevented the court case going as far as it did.

Instead on the actual day of the hearing at the High Court the Claimant sought to amend his case to now rely on the Localism Act.  At the Court’s door the Claimant’s lawyers also suggested that they would not seek any legal costs against the Council.

The Council was advised by its barrister that the offer now made, although extremely late, ought to be given serious consideration. 

The Council agreed on a pragmatic basis to accept the very late offer from the Claimant. It agreed that its decision be quashed when considered in conjunction with the new and late proposed amendment to his case. This was mainly because there would be no payment of legal costs by it and no further appeals.  

The Council remains committed to improving the facilities for all of its residents. It has to work within a very difficult framework because of austerity measures imposed by central government. The Council has exciting plans and vision for how this is to be achieved and will continue to work with all who seek to contribute.