The Court of Appeal has revoked planning permission for Wards Corner and issued a stark warning to councils to consider the impact on racial groups when they are proposing any redevelopments. The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) became involved in the case when local residents challenged the original permission on the grounds that the Council had failed to discharge its statutory duty to have due regard to the need to promote equality of opportunity and good relations between different racial groups.

Wards Corner, in Tottenham, incorporates an indoor market comprising 36 retail units and 33 residential units along an adjoining road.  The majority of the businesses and flats affected by the scheme are owned or occupied by black people or other minority ethnic groups. Lord Justice Pill, in the Court of Appeal, said the duty to have due regard involves a conscious approach and state of mind which had not been demonstrated in the case at hand.  He said the council had not focused on the specific statutory considerations and analysed the material before it with these considerations in mind.