Date set for hearing over West Acre Park

The struggle to protect one of Ryde’s last farms will reach the second highest court in the country in hearings scheduled for early April.

Elmfield residents group Greenfield (IOW) Ltd’s bid to save the 200-year-old Westridge Farm from a 473-house development on its farmland will be heard at the Royal Courts of Justice on April 8 and 9.

Greenfield’s judicial review case against the IW Council’s approval of the West Acre Park Project was dismissed after an Administrative Court ruling in August last year.

Following the decision, the developer, Captiva Homes, said the outcome showed the council managed its application with “professionalism and integrity”. Director James Pink said: “Captiva Homes will now move forward with the project at pace, eager to deliver 473 much-needed homes for Islanders, with the first homes expected to be ready for occupation in 2025.” However, Greenfields appealed the ruling the following month.

At a ward meeting last Thursday, Councillor Michael Lilley read out a statement from a representative of the campaign: “We now have a date set for the case to be heard at the Royal Courts of Justice in London. Those dates are April 8 and 9. It will be heard by three Lord Justices – not merely one judge as was the case in the High Court in Southampton last year.

“As you can imagine, it will be hugely expensive for a two-day trial in the court, in excess of £50,000. However, due to the strangeness and uniqueness of our case, our barristers have decided to fight the case without payments because they do believe that you’ve had an injustice in this case with the Isle of Wight Council.”

Speaking for himself, Cllr Lilley said: “This is the one ward that knows about judicial review. Because 600 people locally contributed to raise about £70,000 to have its own lawyers to originally save Westridge Farm, but also now the farmland which is very historic to this community.”