Civic society Urban Gravesham has lost its High Court battle over the future of Gravesend town centre.

Judge Mr Justice Ouseley ruled that Gravesham council had granted planning consent for the £120m Heritage Quarter regeneration scheme correctly.

He handed down his ruling in Court 19 of the Royal Courts of Justice in The Strand, London, at 10.30am this morning.

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However, developer Edinburgh House is still facing a red light on starting construction work as Urban Gravesham has 28 days to decide whether to take the case to the Court of Appeal.

Mr Justice Ouseley rejected the application brought by Sue Couves, a member of Urban Gravesham, which challenged the permission by the council’s planning committee in April 2013 and its subsequent signing-off by council officers a year later.

The final notice of consent was issued after negotiations secured an agreement under Section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act for Edinburgh House to provide various things like infrastructure and affordable housing during various stages of the development.

Video: Gravesend redevelopment back on track - Graham Stothard reports

The judge rejected all the claims against the council and ruled that the council, its members and officers had acted properly.

He determined that the planning committee, known as the Regulatory Board, had not been misled in granting permission.

Specifically the planning officer had given correct advice to approve the scheme and later acted within his powers to proceed with the negotiations and secure agreement.

He had reported this to the board and any of the 44 elected members of the council could have demanded that the decision be called back to committee if any of them had any reservations about his decision. None did.

The judge also ruled that the legal officer had correctly advised the board of the risk of turning down the application without proper grounds and that the officers had said none existed which were likely to survive an appeal by the developer.

Council leader Cllr John Burden said: “This judgement is a total vindication of the council’s decision and the professional advice from its officers. The judge effectively produced a forensic shredding of the case against the authority.

“All sides ought to accept this ruling as final and then, at long last, we can proceed to build this desperately needed regeneration project which was originally proposed a decade ago.

“During this latest chapter the council and its development partner have suffered a protracted campaign of misinformation and delaying tactics which the judge’s decision should have brought to an end.

“We aren’t just here to make a quick profit. We have worked with the council on other developments.” - Richard Hughes, development manager

“Members must finally be allowed to do the job they were democratically elected to do. This scheme was approved by the Regulatory Board and the Secretary of State did not call it in for an inquiry. Now the dispute over legal technicalities has been resolved.”

On the prospect of an appeal, Cllr Burden added: “Given the judge’s demolition of the case against the council the claimant must weigh the prospects of success carefully.

"An appeal would risk further delay and costs on both sides which the taxpayer will have to bear. In the final analysis the claimant will be judged in the court of public opinion."

The council said it would pursue costs against the claimant.

Richard Hughes, development manager for Edinburgh House, said: “I’m overjoyed with the decision. We have always felt that the council had done nothing untoward in the handling of the planning application.

"The bottom line is that clearly the vast majority of people in town want to see this happen. This is £120 million investment, this is 1,000 jobs, its apprenticeships, it's everything the town needs in terms of a kick start to help this town go forward.

“I would hope that now the judge has made his decision that they will say that enough is enough and let us start building.

“The vast majority of people in this town want to see this happen. All Urban Gravesham is doing is using delay tactics.”

Urban Gravesham has previously alleged that the development could leave the town with “little more than cheap buy-to-let flats” and that the council are “selling the town down the river” to a profit-motivated developer.

"The judge effectively produced a forensic shredding of the case against the authority." - John Burden, council leader

However, Mr Hughes played down such accusations – citing that Edinburgh House has invested £60 million in Gravesham since first working there.

He added: “We aren’t just here to make a quick profit. We have worked with the council on other developments.”

A spokesman for Urban Gravesham said: “Urban Gravesham acknowledges the court decision but we are considering our options, including appeal to the Court of Appeal with our legal team.

"We would like to thank our many members and supporters and assure everyone that we will continue to represent those people who care about the future and the heritage of our town centre.”

Mr Justice Ouseley had been considering his decision since a hearing in October.

The multi-million pound Heritage Quarter scheme includes flats, restaurants, a 50-bedroom hotel and underground car parks.

The first phase of the scheme, which takes in the area between Queen Street and High Street, was approved by Gravesham council in April 2013 and work was due to start last October.