The Isle of Wight CPRE, the countryside charity, has joined the growing number of residents and community groups in announcing its opposition to a greenfield planning application on undeveloped countryside near Bembridge.
An application by Thornwood Estates for 57 new homes has been made on an area of undeveloped countryside that is currently outside the Bembridge settlement boundary. A separate application on adjacent land is anticipated shortly which could see the total new homes for Bembridge rise to 180.
CPRE IOW says it fully supports the ‘Build a Better Bembridge’ community group in their opposition to this Greenfield development. The charity states that the group rightly identifies serious flaws with the proposed development, in particular failure to take into account traffic, flooding, sewage and other infrastructure constraints.
CPRE IOW will be laying out its formal objection to the proposed scheme as part of the Council’s consultation on the scheme due to close on the 12th January.
Commenting on the proposals, Ian Wellby, Trustee of the Isle of Wight CPRE said:
“We fully support the residents of Bembridge in mobilising to oppose this unwanted, unnecessary and destructive assault on the remaining undeveloped countryside surrounding Bembridge.
“The “Build a Better Bembridge” community group has identified several compelling reasons why these fields are totally inappropriate for development on this scale.
Article continues below this advertisement “In particular we note the failure to take account traffic, flooding, sewage and other infrastructure constraints, or evidence local need via reference to Bembridge’s neighbourhood plan.
“This scheme represents yet another attempt by an opportunistic developer to profit from inappropriate and unwanted development by appeal to a total ill-suited and unrealistic central government housing targets.
“It’s vital that the Island de-couples from national housing targets and pursues a bespoke housing policy based on local need, not external demand.
“Only with a realistic, needs-based housing target can the Council the take back control of planning and halt the appalling loss of rural landscapes that is resulting from the relaxation of planning protection in response to missed unrealistic housing targets.
“Whilst we welcome the Isle of Wight Council’s attempt to establish a lower housing target in the medium term, it must act now to reject this ill-suited, inappropriate and unwanted development”
You can find out more at buildabetterbembridge.co.uk.
Is Bembridge different to elsewhere on the Island? A genuine question.
Flooding, traffic, wastewater sewage, infrastructure are common objections levelled at any greenfield. Didn’t make a jot of difference in Ryde recently.
The answer to your question is NO, but the residents ‘think’ it is.
Many well to do, have retired too early for their own good, end up bored after having been in positions of power find it hard enduing living with their partners 24/7.
They have to get involved in any club, council, or activity where they can assert themselves and opinions onto others to releive pent up frustration.
They don’t want social housing, nor affordable housing littering their village, and they complain about expensive housing, because the truth is they don’t want, like most of us, ANY building there. So use floods, rare plants and bats as an excuse.
They will be the first ones complaining when there are no basic services because locals have been priced out. If it’s all going to be sold to second home owners, then I agree. But if they housing is for first time buyers and people who live and work on the island then I am all for building these. NIMBY lot across the UK have killed local economies because they prevent any chance of job creation.
Hardly prime countryside there now. A couple of wet muddy fields squeezed between the road and Steyne park whose field abutting the site is also water logged.
Perhaps building there will HELP drainage as now, the rain water just stagnates but once falling onto the hundreds of rooves and new roads will be diverted into drains and safely be taken away, as all other built up areas manage to cope with.
The unkempt unmade unadopted roads are MORE of a problem as stones, gravel and mud run down them into the tar mac Styene road and block drains.
YET ‘because’ the road is already built up and occupied NO ONE mentions such NIMBYS
This green agricultural field is not only a treasure for its aesthetic and wild life sustenance Any surrender of this local /national asset to developers who will immediately tarmac and concrete it over and it is lost forever (never to be regained) and not only have we lost but also our future generations .