By Carole Dennett
Losing the West Acre development court case has cost Island council taxpayers more than £160,000.
In a decision dated April 29, the Court of Appeal in London quashed the planning permission for the new 473-house development on the former Westridge Farm on the outskirts of Ryde. The decision was overturned because the IW Council had failed to publish the Section 106 agreement, which lists planning obligations developer will fund.
However the judgment also declared that the Planning Committee’s decision was ‘valid and lawful’. It is still not clear where this leaves the council, but the fact that the judgement was made on a technicality appears to make it clear that the development will still go ahead.
This week, almost three weeks after the IW Observer first asked for the figure, the IW Council finally disclosed that the battle had cost the council £90,435. This figure includes legal advice and barrister fees, court fees, travel, accommodation and an estimated figure for officer time. However the council was also ordered to pay 75 per cent of Greenfield’s costs.
Greenfield was the body of Elmfield residents who had taken the council to court.
Their costs were almost £120,000, but the council’s liability was limited to £70,000 – meaning the case has cost Island taxpayers £160,435.
The IW Council’s strategic manager for planning and infrastructure delivery, Ollie Boulter, is responsible for the council complying with planning legislation, but a spokesman for the IW Council described the failure as a ‘procedural error’.
He added: “The council has learnt lessons from this judgement and the planning and infrastructure team, having recognised the systems error, has put in place new processes to ensure this does not occur in this future,” a spokesperson said.
“Since April 1, applications requiring a section 106 agreement must provide a draft agreement when the application is submitted. The draft agreement will then be available to view online as part of the planning file. A final section 106 agreement will also be published before a decision is issued.”
The irony of introducing the new procedure on April Fool’s Day appeared to be lost on the council spokesman!
