West Acre Park Legal Battle Cost Isle Of Wight Council Over £150,000

A legal challenge over the controversial West Acre Park housing development has cost the Isle of Wight Council more than £150,000, councillors have been told.

The figure was revealed at Tuesday evening’s planning committee meeting on 13 January, in response to questions from Liberal Democrat councillor Michael Lilley.

County Hall’s principal lawyer, Ben Gard, confirmed the total cost of the judicial review process relating to the proposed 473-home development was £152,251.46.

The council lost a Court of Appeal case last year involving Greenfields (IOW) Ltd, which resulted in a court order quashing planning permission granted in 2023 for Captiva Homes’ development at Westridge Farm in Ryde.

A revised application for West Acre Park was later approved by the planning committee in September.

Earlier figures released by the council in May put the total cost at £90,435.72.

Mr Gard explained the higher figure includes additional elements and provides a fuller breakdown of costs.

He told councillors that around £30,900 related to council legal officer time, including travel and accommodation, while £57,252 was spent on external legal advice across the pre-action, High Court and Court of Appeal stages.

A further £64,094.75 was awarded against the council in legal costs.

Councillor Lilley, who represents Ryde Appley and Elmfield, said the updated figure did not include time spent by non-legal officers and could therefore be higher.

He said the legal challenge was driven by residents seeking to protect their community and its historic links to farming and the natural environment, and questioned whether the cost to taxpayers could have been avoided.

The Isle of Wight Council has since published a West Acre Park Judicial Review Process Learning Report, outlining changes made to planning procedures following the case.

Strategic manager for planning and infrastructure, Oliver Boulter, said the council has introduced improvements including clearer publication of planning obligations, revised training for planning committee members and new public-facing tools to improve transparency.

The report says the council remains committed to learning from the experience and strengthening its planning processes.

Councillor Debbie Andre, the Alliance independent representative for Sandown North, highlighted what she described as positive outcomes from the case, including the introduction of a new councillors’ code of good planning practice and increased emphasis on training for planning committee members.

She suggested attendance at planning workshops should be a required part of councillor training, given the importance of planning decisions.