A WILMSLOW resident has won a high court battle to quash planning permission for an apartment block in the town after the council failed to take into consideration a colony of bats roosting on the site.

Simon Woolley, of Bollinholme, Fulmards Close, opposite the site, took his fight to court after the controversial plans to demolish a house to make way for three apartments was given the green light in February 2008.

Following a judicial review on May 21 and 22, a judge sitting in Manchester ruled in his favour and rescinded the planning permission which was granted by Macclesfield Borough Council.

The appeal was upheld after Mr Woolley challenged the legality of the decision to grant planning permission on the grounds that the council did not take into account the protected species of bat that had been identified on the site.

He also said that the council had failed to say whether there was compliance with the policies in the development plan or not and that it failed to take account of applicable policies.

The cost of defending the action and Mr Woolley’s costs will have to be met by the newly formed Cheshire East Council, but a council spokesman said the exact cost of the legal fees have still not been determined.

A council spokesman said: "The council will not take any further legal action in respect of the decision handed down. The council needs to respond to the decision that has been made and will do so to seek to ensure that the issues found to be at fault by the Judge do not occur again in the processes that planning adopt into the future. Equally on the points that the council won on, we will seek to ensure that these are used to inform decisions and practices."

Macclesfield Borough Council’s planning sub-committee approved the scheme for three apartments with underground parking at Bryancliffe on the edge of the Bollin Valley on Wilmslow Park Road. They said the application, submitted by Millennium Estates Ltd, was acceptable, as the design was in keeping with the mixed character of the area.

At the time five residents objected to the scheme.

Wilmslow Park Road Users Association also complained about the scale of the proposal and the impact on the local road network, and The Wilmslow Trust raised concerns that the scheme conflicted with the current housing moratorium.

Since the judicial review Milleniunm Estates has gone into administration.

But planners at Cheshire East Council said it is not clear whether the administrators intend to resubmit the application.

Planning officer John Knight said in his report that if the application is not withdrawn it will need to be re-determined by the council.

A spokesman for the Bat Conservation Trust, which is celebrating the victory, said: "This case will have a knock on effect to planning departments across the country serving to strengthen the protection that bats receive, and the consideration that they are given within the planning system."