UP to £35,000 in taxpayers money could be used to pay for costs following a High Court decision that ruled a housing application for 35 custom-built homes near Sutton Veny should not have been approved.

The application was passed by Wiltshire Council last June by just one vote but Mr Justice Cranston quashed the outline planning permission in October this year after ruling that Councillor Magnus Macdonald should not have voted.

The judge ruled that as a board member for Selwood Housing, Coun Macdonald, also a member of the Liberal Democrats, had a “private interest” which constituted “apparent bias”.

Trowbridge resident Philip Withers recently found out the potential cost of the verdict to the taxpayer after submitting a Freedom of Information (FOI) request to Wiltshire Council.

Ian Gibbons, associate director legal and governance, stated that: “The court has ordered that the council is to pay 70 per cent of the claimant’s reasonable costs, to be assessed if not agreed, subject to a maximum of £35,000. We have not yet received the claimant’s schedule of costs, so cannot yet say what the final amount will be.”

Mr Withers, 74, from Trowbridge, said: “It wasn’t about the housing. I was more concerned that one of the councillors who voted on the application was also a director of the housing association."

“I just want the council to do what they are supposed to do which is conduct their affairs in a proper way and make sure they are spending money wisely.

“What I’m really trying to find out if there are costs to be borne by the council, who has to pay and much will it be.

“I’m still waiting to hear back but I will do everything I possibly can to make him [Cllr Macdonald] pay.”

Leader of the Liberal Democrats at Wiltshire Council, Glenis Ansell, said: “The party won’t pay the costs because the council acts as a body. To be honest I didn’t need to speak with him [Coun Macdonald] but I did and the Lib Dems don’t have a whip on decisions of this nature. We are there to represent people and Absolutely I stand by him and his decision, he’s a man who stands up for the people.”

A spokesman for Wiltshire Council said that it wouldn't be appealing the High Court decision and that any costs would be met by the council.