Countryside campaigners are celebrating after a High Court judge ordered a council to pay their legal costs for a judicial review over a historic estate.
A developer has also been ordered to pay the campaigners' costs for legal proceedings to secure injunctions to halt construction work at Cherkley Court earlier this year.
The Cherkley Campaign brought the judicial review to stop developer Longshot Cherkley Court from building a golf course on highly protected greenbelt land near Leatherhead.
Mr Justice Haddon-Cave, who quashed planning permission granted by Mole Valley District Council, on Friday ordered the council to pay the campaigners’ costs for the substantive claim and hearing in full.
His judgement said: "The claimant not only won the case, but succeeded handsomely on the major grounds which formed the heart of its challenge to the defendant’s grant of planning permission."
The campaigners had succeeded on the grounds that greenbelt and protected landscape policies had been breached and that the need for a golf course had not been demonstrated.
Heavy equipment on estate earlier this year
Mr Justice Haddon-Cave did not order the council to cover the costs of a pre-action letter written on behalf of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) before Cherkley Campaign was incorporated in 2012.
In March campaigners won an injunction to stop the developer from carrying out construction work after a digger was photographed removing top soil from the land.
Mr Justice Haddon-Cave rejected a submission by the developer's lawyer that there was an ‘abuse of process’ in the way the injunction was obtained.
He said: "I am unmoved by any of the interested party’s arguments on costs.
"The battle lines were drawn by the interested party from the outset: it made it clear that it was not prepared to stop work on the Cherkley development, absent a court order."
Kristina Kenworthy, director at the Cherkley Campaign, welcomed the ruling and said their costs for the judicial review had exceeded £50,000.
Mrs Kenworthy said: "It is the kind of reasoned judgement that we expected from a judge of his calibre. We are very pleased with it."
Cherkley Court, the former home of press baron Lord Beaverbrook
Andy Smith, Surrey branch director at CPRE, said: "As with Mr Justice Haddon-Cave's original judgement in the Cherkley case, this is a very sensible decision by the judge and is to be welcomed.
"The statement by the judge reinforces the belief that we in CPRE have always had that the judicial review was an important case, in the public interest and that the Cherkley Campaign were right to take it forward, with our support."
Of the ruling, Longshot spokesman Nick Kilby said: "It is what it is. We have an appeal in and will review this judgement after that appeal has been dealt with."
The council and developer have both been granted leave to appeal by the Court of Appeal and the hearings will be held early next year.
Longshot Cherkley Court wants to turn the former home of press baron Lord Beaverbrook into a 5 star hotel and exclusive private members’ golf course.
Last week a majority of councillors rejected a motion calling on the council to ditch the costly appeal after a heated public debate.
Councillor Simon Ling, finance portfolio holder on the executive, said if the case is dropped now then total costs from the judicial review which the council lost were estimated to be approximately £130,000.
Coun Ling said if the council wins the forthcoming appeal then total costs would be reduced to about £30,000 but if it loses then costs could rise to the region of £220,000.
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