CONTROVERSIAL PLANS FOR HOUSING IN RYDE SUDDENLY WITHDRAWN

Controversial plans for new housing near an Isle of Wight nature reserve have been suddenly withdrawn, without explanation.  Outline consent was being sought by Veronica Kelland for around 45 flats and houses to be built in central Ryde, near the Alfred Street allotments and off Quarry Road. Now, in an update to its planning register earlier this week, the Isle of Wight Council has said the plans have been withdrawn although no reason had been given. The plans, which would see the housing built near the Pig Leg Lane nature reserve, had been met with opposition, with more than 30 objections submitted. Among them, Ryde Town Council said various measures should have been outlined to mitigate the “considerable harm that would be caused” by the development to protect the flora and fauna. Another objector said the development would endanger Pig Leg Lane and that Gift to Nature, which manages the site, had worked extremely hard to reinstate the delicate ecosystem. Other concerns had also been raised about building on a greenfield site and turning it into a ‘concrete jungle’ adding to the flooding issues suffered in that area; inadequate infrastructure in Ryde; and an increase in traffic in the residential area which was already heavily used by vehicles. The land used to be agricultural fields, an orchard, and patches of woodland but is now said, in planning documents, to be overgrown with scrub and brambles. Protected and priority species have also been noted on the proposed development site, but it is included in the Isle of Wight Council’s draft planning strategy, with an allocation of at least 30 houses.