FT to receive council payout after planning win

Derby City Council has been ordered to pay the trust’s legal bill after the council lost a planning appeal against the trust’s bid to develop the site of the former Derbyshire Royal Infirmary.

The trust wants to transform the hospital site with 400 homes and a supermarket, creating 300 jobs.

Councillors refused to grant planning permission for the scheme but the hospital appealed the decision to the planning inspectorate and won its case in February.

Now the authority will have to pay the legal bill for the trust lawyers after the government decided the sale should go ahead.

Communities secretary Eric Pickles said there was “no persuasive evidence the proposal would be likely to undermine the vitality and viability of the city centre”.

He added the “significance” of the Royal Infirmary was “limited due to the unexceptional quality of the building as originally constructed”.

The council is still waiting to find out exactly how much it will be required to pay.