A controversial £80 million shopping and leisure development on the outskirts of Belfast suffered a setback yesterday, when planning permission was quashed.
In the NI High Court, Mr Justice Coghlin upheld an application for judicial review of a decision by the Department of the Environment giving the goahead for the Harbour Exchange development known as D5.
The decision was welcomed by Frank Caddy, chief executive of the Belfast Chamber of Trade and Commerce, which brought the case along with the City Council and North Down Borough Council.
"It is great news for traders in Belfast, Holywood and Dundonald," Mr Caddy said. "It means we can approach the future with confidence and at the same time draw a line under the many out of town developments which have taken place in recent years." Mr Caddy said if the decision had gone the other way, it would have resulted in some traders going to the wall, particularly independents.
In his judgement, Mr Justice Coghlin criticised the planning authorities for not carrying out an up to date "health check" on the effect on trading in surrounding areas, before granting planning permission.
Yesterday's judicial review was the second concerning the D5 project. The first had a similar result, after Mr Justice Kerr ruled that the then minister, Lord Dubs, had not been provided with all the advice available on the impact of the plans.
Stand-in Stormont minister George Howarth later provoked a furious political response when he re-granted planning permission - the decision which led to yesterday's decision to kill it off for a second time.