A planning appeal has been launched over a rejected application to keep items related to the construction of a shelved ‘cider and chocolate’ tourist attraction at Hale Common.
Carlton Developments Ltd has appealed a rejected bid to keep a barn, 4 storage containers and 3 caravans at the site of the former Arreton Garden and Aquatic Centre, as part of the construction of a new Arreton Cider and Chocolate Centre.
The Isle of Wight Council approved the attraction in March 2017 – some 7 years ago – but refused the developer’s application in March this year to keep the construction buildings at the site looking onto the A3056 for a 3 year period.
It was in 2022 that Island Echo reported that the tourist attraction plan had been shelved in favour of the construction of 20 ‘live and work’ units instead.
A Planning Statement written by the Andrew White Planning Consultancy, on behalf of Carlton Developments, says the barn is being used to store construction machinery. The 4 containers have housed tools and construction materials as well as staff facilities including a meeting room, toilets and a changing room.
Caravans have provided temporary living accommodation for site workers.
County Hall’s report explaining its decision in April said there was ‘no robust justification’ for the scale of storage space proposed. Neither was on-site living accomodation deemed appropriate, with hotels and guest houses in the nearby Bay Area, including budget options.
Other reasons for the refusal included the proposal’s ‘detrimental visual impact’, adverse effect on trees and hedgerows, ‘insufficient information’ in relation to protected species and biodiversity and nitrate pollution affecting the Solent Special Protection Area.
Arreton Parish Council also opposed the application in a public comment published in April.
The authority said:
“The history of different applications on this site has caused confusion and there is contradictory information.
“Concerns were raised about the lack of information about waste water provision.
“An application for temporary approval for three years, given the original application was March 6, 2017, is too long.”