Warwick District Council has appointed an external consultant to investigate its handling of a controversial planning appeal. 

The authority has confirmed it received a formal complaint over a poultry farm in Norton Lindsey receiving planning permission through a national inspector after the application had been refused by the council in January 2023. 

It was a saga that ran over more than five years amid objections and previously failed appeals but a watered-down version went through after the council's sole reason to object – on the grounds of highway safety – was no longer supported by Warwickshire County Council, the highways authority that is consulted as the expert on such matters.

That happened after the applicant, Mr A Audhali, did further work to satisfy the county's criteria but paperwork laying out the revised highways position and the district's appeal statement acknowledging it no longer had grounds to refuse were not uploaded to Warwick District Council's planning portal until May 1, 2024.

That was after the appeal had been heard, despite both having been produced in November 2023.  

The inspector's report concluded that interested parties had been notified of the appeal, "so would have been able to view the additional submitted information".

It is not clear whether that position assumed that the documents had been put on the district council's website or if it was making reference to their availability elsewhere.

A district council spokesperson said the complaint related to "how the appeal was handled by the council, leading to the decision by the (Planning) Inspectorate to grant permission". 

An external consultant is currently working on the case which is expected to be resolved in September. The council said it was unable to comment on the anticipated costs involved until the process concludes. 

They added: "Warwick District Council is aware of the public concern about this case and has received a complaint. This complaint is currently being investigated and it would therefore not be appropriate to comment further at this time."

The matter was raised in public by ward member Cllr Jan Matecki, who had consistently supported residents in objecting to the proposals throughout the process, earlier this month.

He asked at August's meeting of full council: "What is the administration going to do to restore public confidence and make sure that this never happens again?"

Leader Cllr Ian Davison, fielding the question in the absence of portfolio holder for place Cllr Chris King, committed to looking into it.