Dawlish News

Tesco and Sainsbury's are set for a High Court showdown over plans for a new store in Dawlish, Devon.

Judge Mr Justice Burnett yesterday gave the go-ahead for the owners of the Lady's Mile holiday park site to join Tesco in challenging the grant of planning permission for Sainsbury's to build a new supermarket on a rival site at Shutterton Bridge.

The judge granted Alfred and Joan Jeffery permission to seek judicial review of Teignbridge District Council's decision to grant planning permission to Sainsbury's.

As a result, he closed the door on a bid by the Council to have a parallel challenge brought by Tesco thrown out of court.

The twin challenges will now be heard together at the High Court later this year, in a hearing scheduled to last two days.

In the full hearing, lawyers for the Jefferys will argue that the Council's planning committee failed to take account of an earlier decision to refuse planning permission for a supermarket development on the same Shutterton Bridge site in 2005.

And they claim that the committee failed to have proper regard to their own rival scheme when granting permission to Sainsbury's.

Tesco had earlier secured permission to challenge the decision on the basis that the Council had failed to give proper and adequate reasons justifying its decision.

They claim that their Lady's Mile site is preferable to the Sainsbury's site because it is closer to the town centre, and more closely linked to existing built-up areas.