A HIGH Court judge has ruled a councillor's position as a board member for Selwood Housing meant he should not have voted in a planning application that a housing company was involved with.

The application for 35 homes on land near the River Wylye at Warminster was passed last June by one vote but at a High Court ruling in London last week, Mr Justice Cranston quashed the outline planning permission for the scheme because of Cllr Magnus Macdonald’s “private interest”, which constituted “apparent bias”.

The decision means Wiltshire Council will have to take a second look at the application.

Cllr Macdonald, who stepped down as a director of Selwood Housing in May this year, said: “It has to go back to planning on one basis, that the average man could come to the wrong conclusion and that’s why they asked for it to be heard again.

“Had I done the wrong thing? No I hadn’t and I voted purely on the planning merits of the scheme.

“The planning stuff, such as the environmental aspects, the judge found nothing wrong – that was all perfectly acceptable.

"Before the vote Selwood assured me that they didn’t have a contract in place, they were merely acting as advisors.

“Planning is a very emotive issue sometimes our job as councillors is to look at the facts and to listen to the officers but the site in question has been derelict for 40 years and it’s looking for a purpose.

“If the application goes before Wiltshire Council again I will go in with an open mind and listen to the arguments but they will have to come up with better arguments against than they did before.”

Cllr Macdonald, who represents Winsley and Westwood, declared he was a director of Selwood at the planning meeting last year, and a late written submission from Selwood stated there were no formal agreements between them and the developer, HPH.

Mr Justice Cranston stated in his ruling that Selwood was “the only provider which had been willing to give assistance on the scheme” and had been named by the applicants for planning permission as their “potential partner” in the development.

Development director for Selwood Housing, Paul Walsh, said: “Selwood Housing has never held a contract to provide the affordable housing element of the development near River Wylye in Warminster.

“This is a decision for the land owner and local planning authority. Therefore we do not have any plans for the site. If the developer decides to proceed with the site, we would be pleased to submit a bid to provide affordable homes.”

Despite quashing the decision on the grounds of bias, Mr Justice Cranston rejected claims that the development would have a significant impact on the River Avon’s special conservation area or that the Council had failed to properly assess the environmental impact.

In his ruling, Mr Justice Cranston rejected claims that the development would have a significant impact on the River Avon's special conservation area.

A Wiltshire Council spokesman said: “The judge has confirmed that there was no legal connection between Selwood and the applicant and therefore no actual bias, nor did the councillor have a disclosable financial interest which disqualified him from sitting.

“However the judge concluded that on the facts placed before the court, there was a link that could give rise to an appearance of potential bias.

“We are currently considering the detailed judgement.”