Residents fighting the development of 473 homes on greenfield land are at Southampton Crown Court today (Monday 1st July 2024) for the start of a two-day Judicial Review hearing.
Residents have raised more than £57,000 to cover legal costs, as well as taking a £10,000 bank loan to bridge what is needed to go forward with the case.
Greenfields (IOW) Limited (the claimants) are the group of residents who live in the historic settlement of Elmfield in Ryde, and have been campaigning for many years to save the last working farm in their town, Westridge Farm.
The claimant’s arguments
There are five arguments being submitted to the court (yet to be upheld or dismissed), as follows:
- Ground 1: The Council’s conduct in determining to grant the Permission was unlawful. In particular, the conduct of the meeting of the Defendant’s Committee on 27th July 2021 was procedurally improper and/or unfair. This vitiated the decision to grant planning permission.
- Ground 2: The grant of the Permission is vitiated by the appearance of bias on the part of Councillor Brodie and/or the exercise of his functions for an improper purpose.
- Ground 3: The Defendant acted unlawfully in failing to publish a draft planning obligation on its planning register; and in failing to publish a completed planning obligation, contrary to Article 40(3)(b) of the Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) Order 2015.
- Ground 4: The Defendant acted unlawfully in failing to having regard to regulation 122 CIL regulations 2010 and nevertheless relying, in granting the Permission, on the making of a financial contribution towards highways improvements; and/or unlawfully deferred consideration of whether or not the financial contribution towards highways improvements complied with regulation 122 CIL Regulations until after the grant of the Permission.
- Ground 5: The Defendant took into account an immaterial consideration, and/or acted irrationally and/or was materially misled by officers in relying on a financial contribution towards inchoate highways improvement proposals as mitigating an identified adverse impact of the development.
If you would like to support the case you can donate via the CrowdJustice fundraising appeal. Where you will also see updates from the organisers.
You can read the Greenfield’s skeleton arguments in the document below.
