Audit Office considers Pathfinder study

The National Audit Office has confirmed to Planning Portal that it is considering a study into the Government's Pathfinder regeneration programme which controversially involves proposals for major demolition schemes in some northern and Midlands cities as part of the administration's Housing Market Renewal strategy.

The independent public spending watchdog said the organisation had begun a preliminary examination of the issues, as it does with many programmes of significant expenditure. No decision has yet been taken over the scope of any subsequent probe.

The news came as Communities Secretary Ruth Kelly recommended that three compulsory purchase orders (CPOs) covering parts of the Pathfinder programme in Liverpool should go ahead.

The CPOs are key to regeneration proposals for the Anfield/Breckfield and Edge Hill areas of the city where a significant number of properties have already been acquired by the council prior to clearance.

The secretary of state has asked for more information on a further CPO for the Picton area and has promised a decision by the end of the month.

Meanwhile the Pathfinder programme has hit another legal hurdle following a judgement over Oldham council's proposals involving the demolition of homes as part of the Derker Pathfinder Housing Market Renewal scheme.

After a two-day hearing in London's High Court, deputy judge Sir Michael Harrison quashed the council's decision to grant the renewal scheme permission.

Lawyers for residents fighting the scheme successfully argued that the local authority had failed to take into account the full environmental impact of the proposals.

Public Interest Lawyers, the legal practice handling the case, argued that the council had failed to consider the cumulative effect of demolishing houses in each of the three sites affected; the impact of the construction of the planned new dwellings; the likelihood that the sites involved involve contaminated land; and the loss of significant architectural heritage in Derker.

The judge said the council's screening opinions were invalid and the planning permission should therefore be quashed.

The council had argued that the renewal scheme was designed to provide "good quality, energy efficient, diverse housing, providing for more housing choice within the area, greater sustainability and an improved market environment".

A spokesman for the council said after the ruling: "We are looking into the findings of the judicial review and the council and its partners will respond to the issues raised by the judge before re-submitting its planning applications."