A GROUP of Newport residents opposed to a supermarket must wait to hear the outcome of their Court of Appeal challenge.

The ‘Say no to Morrisons’ group, spearheaded by Eduard Berky, asked the Court of Appeal in London to quash the granting of planning permission by Newport council in January 2011 for a new Morrisons store behind the Lysaght Institute building.

They claim the council was wrong to grant permission for the development – which involves restoring the Lysaght Institute – against the recommendation of its own planning officers.

They say the decision was tainted by the appearance of bias because the name of Cllr John Richards, a member of the planning committee, was printed at the top of three pages of a 48-page petition in favour of the scheme presented to the council in September 2010.

They claim this is evidence of Cllr Richards’ “active involvement in the pro-Morrisons campaign.”

The council says the presence of Cllr Richards’ name on the petition does not indicate his involvement, only that the petition was adapted from a document he had previously saved on his computer. It says Cllr Richards was not aware of the leaflet’s existence.

The objectors argue that as the decision to reject the advice of planning officers was pushed through with Cllr Richards taking the lead, it was unlawful because of an appearance of pre-determination, and also because the planning committee failed to provide adequate reasons for departing from that advice.

The supermarket opened in October.

‘Say No to Morrisons’ launched a failed bid to get a judicial review to investigate the council’s decision to grant the application.

Following a two-day hearing in June, Recorder of Cardiff Nicholas Cooke, QC, said the group did not disclose sufficient grounds to justify a judicial review.

The Court of Appea