Wealden council leader defends costs of legal challenge

By The Newsroom
Published 23rd Nov 2018, 10:24 BST
Updated 23rd Nov 2018, 11:27 BST
The leader of Wealden District Council has rejected calls to apologise for the legal costs of a controversial planning challenge.

At a full council meeting on Wednesday (November 21), Wealden Independent councillor Greg Rose called on Conservative council leader Bob Standley to apologise for the costs of legal action connected to the Steel Cross development in Crowborough.

The proposals – to build 103 homes – have been subject to a long-running legal battle between developers Knight Developments Ltd and Wealden planners, appearing most recently at the Court of Appeal in January 2017.

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Despite this long legal history, Wealden’s new draft local plan now puts the controversial site within the town’s development boundaries. In light of this developers, have submitted a new application to build on the site.

At Wednesday’s meeting, Cllr Rose said: “I was shocked to discover that although the council won the case the net loss of taxpayers money, after costs awarded, was in excess of £180,000.