The Court of Appeal has confirmed that planning permission granted by Isle of Wight council in July 202— to develop 473 homes on Westridge Farm—must be quashed, following a legal challenge brought by Greenfields (IOW) Limited.
This decision follows on from a previous judgment in Greenfields (IOW) Limited v Isle of Wight Council [2025] EWCA Civ 488, where the Court overturned an earlier ruling.
Council’s error led to unlawful decision
The Court found that the council had acted unlawfully when it failed to publish the section 106 planning obligation — a key document in the planning process.
This omission meant that the public was denied the opportunity to comment during the statutory period.
As a result, the Court ruled that the original grant of planning permission could not stand.
Council argued for a limited declaration instead
After the Court invited further submissions on the appropriate relief, Isle of Wight council proposed an alternative approach.
They asked the Court not to quash the permission outright.
Instead, they suggested the Court declare the permission unlawful and of no effect unless and until the section 106 obligation was properly published and a 14-day public consultation period had passed.
They also sought liberty to apply for further directions after that point.
Court rejects council’s proposal
The Court of Appeal rejected this approach. After considering detailed legal argument, the judges concluded that the correct course of action was to quash the planning permission in full.
The Court also ordered the Council to pay 75 per cent of the appellant’s legal costs.
This ruling brings an end to the legal uncertainty around the planning decision and underlines the importance of full transparency in the planning process.
A spokesperson for Greenfields (IOW) Limited said,
“This case was initially borne out of a disregard by the Council as to how a planning application should be approached, however after four years of legal wrangling through the courts it morphed, into something much more serious: the Council’s seeming determination to ignore the views of its residents.
“We are grateful that the Court of Appeal agrees with us that due process matters and we have won this case on its most important ground.
“On the 20th April the Court of Appeal delivered its final judgment on this case and ordered that Planning Permission 20/01061/FUL be quashed (see attached court order) together with costs in our favour.
“When costs have finally been recouped they will go towards legal fees as detailed in the court costs schedule attached. Any residue will be utilised to protect the land and the green fields which are the subject of this crowdfunding campaign in the form of any future legal action which is deemed wholly necessary.”
Lilley: It is a landmark decision and shows real people power
Michael Lilley, the Isle of Wight councillor for Ryde Apley and Elmfield, told OnTheWight,
“It is hard to find the words to describe my emotions. It has been a hard fight by my courageous and brave residents. It has been a real David and Goliath fight and like David and his one sling shot to topple Goliath, my residents’ legal team focused on one error that demonstrated the most that the planning permission was unlawful.
“It is a landmark decision and shows real people power. I have yet to comprehend the full ramifications of the decision to quash the application and will be seeking to discuss this with officers as soon as possible. This controversial planning application had over 500 objections and over 5000 signatures on a petition which were all residents’ voices which were not listened too.
“Over 500 residents contributed to raise the funds through a crowdfunding site to fight this case and the belief in their case against IW Council and Developers remained strong even when the High Court ruled against them last year. They raised further funds to take the case to the court of appeal and won.
“They and I deeply care about our community, Ryde Appley and Elmfield and the historic and environmentally important Westridge farmland. IW Council will now hopefully listen.”
IWC: The council respects the courts’ decision
A spokesperson for Isle of Wight council told OnTheWight,
“The Court of Appeal has handed down its final order in relation to the West Acre appeal. 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 25 April 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.”
Article edit
11.16 am 30th Apr Mar 2025 – Greenfields (IOW) Ltd statement and costs added
6.40pm 30th Apr Mar 2025 – IWC comment added
