Roy Martin QC and Alasdair Burnet of Terra Firma successfully represented Hallam Land Management in a statutory appeal against the adoption of the Edinburgh City local plan. The appellants challenged the Council’s decision to reject the local plan inquiry reporters’ recommendations to reduce the housing allocation for two sites at Newcraighall owned by the Council and the interested party, the Dalrymple Trust.  Lord Malcolm found that the reasons given for the Council’s decisions in relation to both sites were inadequate.  In considering the implications of his decision to quash the Council’s decision, his Lordship declined to follow English authority which suggests that the whole local plan process in relation to those sites requires to start again, and indicated that in his opinion all that was quashed was the final decision by the Council to reject the local plan inquiry reporters’ recommendations and adopt the plan. He therefore decided to set aside only the relevant part of the plan leaving it to the authority to decide how the matter can be resolved thereafter in procedural and administrative terms. Douglas Armstrong QC and Robert Sutherland appeared for the Council and Ralph Smith QC appeared for the interested party. The judgement is available here.