Residents settle closure battle out of court

The long-running legal battle between Plymouth Council and
residents of Granby Way residential home ended in agreement earlier
this week, after both parties accepted judges’ advice to try
to resolve their differences out of court, writes
Lauren Revans.

The residents claim the council’s plan to close the home
would breach their fundamental right to respect for their home and
private and family lives under Article 8 of the European Convention
of Human Rights, and that the trauma of moving could ultimately
result in their deaths.

They took their case to the appeal court this week, having
failed to win a judicial review hearing earlier this year.

Under the new agreement, the residents will now present their
case to an independent complaints panel. The council will then
formally reconsider its decision to close the home in the light of
the panel’s recommendations.

Before any final decision is taken in relation to Granby
Way’s future, the council will also take into account the
emotional, psychological and physical health of the residents, and
particularly the views of a doctor who reported on the potential
impact of closure.

Before the case began, Lord Chief Justice Lord Woolf urged both
parties to resolve the dispute, highlighting the high legal costs
of litigation, and the preference for avoiding judicial rulings in
these types of cases.

Lord Woolf, sitting with Lord Justice Mummery and Lord Justice
Buxton, said the court would give a judgement at a later date which
would incorporate the agreement between the parties as well as the
court’s views on how such cases should be dealt with in the
future.