ALDI’S hopes of setting up shop in Newton Abbot have hit the buffers in a legal hiccup over the town’s Victorian railway heritage.

Teignbridge planning chiefs revealed this week that permission given last year for the Brunel development has been quashed in the High Court at their request because they want the matter re-considered to overcome looming legal objections and possible costs.

The big halt – a rare move in planning circles - has been greeted with glee by the Save Our Shed (SOS) campaign group which wanted to stop the Aldi train in its tracks because of the expected loss of the invaluable redbrick rail shed on the contentious site.

They are in the middle of the fundraising initiative to fight the validity of the permission on procedural grounds.

Members of the action group argued that insufficient representations had been made by Teignbridge about the harm caused to the threatened ‘heritage asset.’

SOS said the team were delighted that their protests had hit home, adding that it would welcome any second-time-around debate on the matter to come out in favour of safeguarding the shed. They had no quarrel with Aldi coming to town – but not at the expense of its architectural history.

The spokesman said on Wednesday: ‘We are very pleased to hear that the legal challenge has been successful and the present decision, to demolish the railway sheds, has been quashed by the High Court. SOS would very much like to thank all those who have supported us.

‘We sincerely hope that whenever the planners reconsider the application they give full and thorough consideration to all the matters affecting this proposal.’

And the spokesman revealed: ‘We will shortly be launching a petition to demonstrate to councillors how much Newtonians want their town’s heritage to be retained and its historic character protected. ‘The SOS fundraising campaign is continuing – as we still need to pay outstanding legal costs associated with the successful legal challenge.’

The spokesman said donations could still be sent to Save Our Shed either by a one-off BACs payment (sort code 77- 68 - 62, Account no 01596660) or cheque payable to: Save Our Shed, c/o 20 Forde Close, Newton Abbot, TQ12 4AF.

An Aldi spokeswoman said yesterday: ‘We are disappointed that the decision to approve the application was overturned. However, we remain confident that we have the town and district councils’ backing, along with the support of many local people who are keen to see Aldi open. We hope to have permission to begin work on site shortly.’

She added: ‘Whilst refitting the existing shed building is not appropriate for this proposal, we have worked closely with officers to agree the store’s design and provide an elevational treatment to respond to the railway heritage.’

Aldi has also repeated its commitment to retain and refurbish the on-site rail signal gantry.

Teignbridge Council said in a prepared statement to the Mid-Devon Advertiser on Wednesday: ‘This application was originally considered by our planning committee in June 2017 and was resolved for approval subject to an improved design being submitted to and agreed by officers. The improvements to the design were secured and the planning permission was issued in December.

‘We are now in a position where the decision has been legally challenged. This is on the grounds that the officer’s report and planning committee decision didn’t provide sufficient justification for departing from the conservation officer’s advice regarding the impact on the setting of nearby designated heritage assets. This would have meant the committee couldn’t have properly considered this issue prior to making a decision.

‘There was an option to contest this case and we gave careful consideration to the most appropriate course of action. Being mindful that legal challenges can cost public money, it was decided against doing this.

‘The next step is for the application to be presented to councillors again. They will be given full guidance on how we’ve reached this situation so they can reconsider the matter.

‘To ensure this process is legally binding a consent order has been signed, which means the High Court quashes the decision but without the time and resources spent on a court hearing. The application now returns to us so that a decision can be agreed upon.

Cllr Dennis Smith, Teignbridge’s planning committee chairman insisted: ‘Our officers will always endeavour to present a fair report with expert advice and consultation responses so democratically elected councillors with local interests at heart can make informed decisions. In this case we accept a legal challenge was raised and we decided the most appropriate course of action was for us not to challenge this. We will now come together and reconsider the information presented to us, so that an informed decision can be made on this application.

Planing committee member Mike Pilkington was surprised by the unusual tack taken by Teignbridge.

He, together with others members of the committee, were unaware of the development until contacted by the Mid-Devon Advertiser.

Cllr Pilkington felt the back-tracking by Teignbridge was just ‘dotting the i’s and crossing t’s’ to make the revised go at the application completely water-tight and safe from any further legal snags.

‘They obviously don’t want to spend taxpayers’ money on a challenge when they can step back and have another look at a second application,’ he said.

He did not think the rail sheds were worth saving as they were ‘dilapidated’ and costly to restore to their former glory by Aldi or anyone else.

‘I don’t know what will happen if it doesn’t go through again,’ he said.

The council is expected to debate the new application in the next few weeks.