Council Moves To Reassure Islanders In Wake Of Westridge Farm Court Battle Defeat

Measures are already in place to ensure a “procedural failure”, that led to defeat in a lengthy court battle over a 473-home development, “does not happen again”, the Isle of Wight Council has said.

County Hall has set out its position following the Court of Appeal’s order to quash the local authority’s August 2023 planning permission for the West Acre Park estate on the 200-year-old Westridge Farm in Ryde.

The order comes after Lord Justices Singh and Lewis’s 29-page judgement last month which found the consent ‘unlawful’.

They allowed ground one of appellant Greenfields (IOW) Ltd’s case – the council failed to publish a section 106 planning obligation prior to its permission.

A council spokesperson said:

“In its ruling, the court has quashed the planning permission on a single procedural failure and has declared that the planning committee’s resolution to grant planning permission on April 25, 2023, is “valid and lawful”.

“The council respects the courts’ decision and is pleased that the other three grounds of the appeal were dismissed.

"Additionally, there was no criticism of the planning judgments made by officers or the Planning Committee in reaching the decision to grant planning permission.

“The Judicial Review was originally made on five grounds which were all refused in the High Court.

“The local planning authority (LPA) will need to carefully consider what the order means for the next steps for the application.

“The LPA has already put measures in place to make sure that this procedural failure does not happen again.”

The developer behind the application, Captiva Homes, has said it remains ‘committed to working with the council to ensure that the much-needed housing for Island residents at West Acre Park can proceed with minimal delay’.