A letter from a mainland solicitors’ firm, specialising in planning law, has been sent to the Isle of Wight council setting out what they believe are a number of procedural concerns in relation to the decision-making process for West Acre Park planning application.
The contentious planning application for 473 homes on the site of Westridge Farm, the last dairy farm in Ryde, was approved at the Isle of Wight council planning committee meeting last month.
Approved with casting vote
The meeting, which was chaired by vice-chairman Cllr Geoff Brodie, saw the application passed with four votes in favour, two against (Cllrs Jarman and Medland) and two abstentions (Cllrs Drew and Critchison).
On an earlier vote to reject the application, Cllr Brodie used his casting vote as acting-chairman of the committee.
Several claims
The letter to the council contains a number of claims, including; the conduct of the chairman and planning officer being called into question; mis-directions of law; the validity of the chairman’s casting vote and the approach of the developers and their representatives.
Three hour limit
The solicitor also claims there was no recorded vote, saying the planning committee meeting overran the three-hour limit without an official extension being granted (as per the council’s Constitution).
News OnTheWight has asked the Isle of Wight council what the implication of the planning decision being made outside the official meeting would be, but are still awaiting a response. We’ll update once we hear back.
Meeting was lawfully extended
News OnTheWight also put this to the chairman of the committee, Cllr Brodie, who replied,
“Our Constitution says very clearly that ‘Votes on all matters…will be by show of hands or, if there is no dissent, by affirmation’ (Part 4B, Rule 10).
“Before the three hours initial time limit was up I suggested to the Committee that we extend the time for up to a maximum of 30 minutes.
“There was no objection – as the recording will no doubt confirm – and I confirmed the extension was agreed. The meeting was, therefore, lawfully extended before the first three hours had expired.”
Article edit
4.40pm 18th Aug 2021 – reference to Cllr Brodie’s casting vote corrected
Image: Scott Graham under CC BY 2.0
