The Isle of Wight Council’s battle with a residents’ group, who have opposed much-needed homes in Ryde, has cost the taxpayer around £90,000.
County Hall recently lost a Court of Appeal case with Greenfields (IOW) Ltd, which led to a court order quashing planning permission for Captiva Homes’ 473-home West Acre Park housing estate in Ryde.
Lord Justices Singh and Lewis’s 29-page judgement allowed Ground 1 of Greenfield’s case – the council failed to publish a section 106 planning obligation prior to its permission.
In August 2023, planners gave Westridge Village Ltd conditional permission to develop West Acre Park with 473 homes, 35% of which would be ‘affordable’ according to a County Hall legal agreement with the developer. Nearly 2 years on, and more than 5 years since the plans were first mooted, not a single home has been built.
Speaking about the costs associated with the recent court case, a spokesperson for the Isle of Wight Council has said:
“The total costs (£90,435.72) include the cost of external legal advice (including barrister fess), court fees, travel and accommodation.
“The council does not routinely time record internal officer time spent on operational matters. The internal officer costs are therefore at best an estimate of the time spent by officers on this matter multiplied by the officer staff costs to the authority.
“Those costs are not the rates that would apply for legal services to external organisations/court claims which are higher than the staffing costs.”
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County Hall has said the failure to publish a section 106 planning obligation prior to permission was a procedural error of the local planning authority (LPA) rather than any one individual. However, a council source has said the Strategic Manager for Planning and Infrastructure Delivery is responsible for ensuring that the LPA complies with legislative requirements.
Captiva Homes said it remained undeterred and plans to press ahead with the much-needed homes with minimal delay, potentially putting the first spade in the ground later this Summer.
Has anyone been sacked if not why not
The Council couldn’t sack a bag of spuds on a
Potato field
Useless ********
So due to a Council Numpty, yet again us tax
payers are out of pocket.
Sounds like someone needs their P45 issuing.
Never mind all that, they are still going to be building on a green field site, which is a “much needed” home for wildlife.
Much needed for who, most of the affordable homes won’t go to islanders because they won’t get a mortgage on benefits, so the home office will buy them and we know who will get them.
Whose head is going to roll?
We don’t need these houses. There are no jobs for the occupants.