WINCHESTER preservation watchdogs have defended their legal action that has thrown into doubt the £150 million Station Approach redevelopment.

The City of Winchester Trust has applied for a judicial review challenging the recent granting of planning permission by the city council to its own scheme.

The trust argues that the council failed to address the impact of the plan on local heritage assets.

The High Court has yet to announce a decision but the trust believes it has won its case with the city council agreeing to the quashing of the outline planning permission granted on September 12.

The Chronicle has reported that the council now believes it has lost a £5million grant from the Local Enterprise Partnership.

Trust chairman Keith Leaman told the Daily Echo: "In answer to your question concerning the LEP money, the Trust has considered this but felt it was far more important to address both the revision of the scheme as well as considering the context, so that the whole relates sympathetically to the conservation area which, in effect, the site overlooks.

"This is not our only concern with the current scheme. In our opinion, there a number of other problems, all of them legal infringements, which we consider are resolvable with a revised brief. As for the time frame, a private sector firm would turn around a revised scheme with alacrity!"

The trust's stance has been criticised by the Business Improvement District with its director Paul Spencer saying ir risked undermining business confidence in the city.