Mr Justice Mould also said in his written judgment about the Bell Hotel: “The claimant’s desire to find a swift resolution to the disruption to public order and the community tensions which followed the outbreak of street protests on July 11 2025 was reasonable.
“It does not however follow that the solution lay in an application for an injunction.”
“Public opposition to the development of land, even if that opposition manifests itself in street protests, is not in itself evidence of planning of environmental harm generated by the development to which there is such strong objection.
“The police have a panoply of powers to manage and regulate street protests and to enforce public order.”
The High Court judge added: “There are countervailing factors in this case which are properly to be weighed in the balance against the planning and environment harm which may reasonably be said to result from the postulated breach of planning control.
“In particular, the evidence before me clearly establishes that there is a continuing need to source contingency accommodation for asylum seekers from hotels to enable the Home Secretary to discharge her statutory responsibilities under the 1999 Act.”
