Council officials are recommending that the 473-home West Acre development in Ryde is, once again, given conditional planning approval, with a decision in the long-running saga expected tomorrow (Tuesday).
A council report published before tomorrow evening’s critical planning committee meeting says Captiva Homes’s revised plans for West Acre Park in Ryde should be granted permission subject to conditions and legal agreement.
The proposal, which includes commercial space, a doctor’s surgery and a cafe, has previously encountered stiff resistance, with Oakfield residents group Greenfields taking County Hall to court over its prior granting of consent in August 2023.
Ultimately, the case reached the Court of Appeal and after an April hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice in London, judges ordered the quashing of the 2023 permission due to the council failing to publish a Section 106 planning obligation before its consent.
Section 106 planning obligations are mechanisms to make development proposals acceptable by mitigating their impacts, often involving financial contributions for affordable housing or infrastructure provision.
Ultimately, nothing has changed since the planning was approved on 2 previous occassions, so tomorrow’s committee meeting will be hard to come to any other conclusion but to approve the application.
The new planning committee report says:
“The benefits associated with the delivery of housing, the creation of jobs, the provision of land for a new doctors’ surgery and the provision of public accessible areas of open space are considered by officers to continue to provide socio-economic benefits to the Island.
“The development would provide wider sustainability benefits to the community that outweigh the flood risk, and the development would be safe for its lifetime, without increasing flood risk elsewhere, and, where possible, will reduce flood risk overall.”
It sets out a variety of planning obligations including a £1,507,033 financial contribution for highway works, 2 Public Rights of Way, 35% affordable housing provision and a related affordable housing scheme and payments to the Solent Protection Area.
A total of 33 conditions are included in the planning committee report.
Reasons given for them include complying with legislation and planning policy, highway safety, ecological and noise mitigation, the interests of the area’s character and neighbouring properties, reducing flood risk and ensuring the development has a satisfactory appearance.
County Hall’s planning committee will meet at 16:00 tomorrow ( 30th September).
Iain Delaney, of Captiva Homes, has said:
“We are pleased to see the application returning to the planning committee to rectify the procedural issue with the publication of the Section 106 agreement.
“West Acre Park continues to be hugely important for housing delivery on the Island, and therefore we are delighted to see that officers continue to recommend the application for approval.”
Beautiful picture, doesn’t show the concrete jungle very well.
There cannot be 473 island families requiring homes.
I can only imagine they will be filled with mainland
families.
The provision of land for a surgery. Really?
It will never be built, but if it is it will never be staffed, but if it is there will never be any appointments, but if there are they will only be with a part-time nurse. Just like everywhere else.
So wrong to develop greenfield sites, while Harcourt Sands lies derelict.
Not to mention the old ice rink and old York hotel
in George Street Ryde.
Do we need another 400+ House’s for mainlanders,where are they all going to work.
Universal basic income
STOP this building, I think it is totally unnecessary, the infrastructure can not cope with what is built already. There are many buildings not being used around the island that could be converted into housing instead of plugging up virgin land
West Acre Eyesore, because it is not a park.