Plans to regenerate the harbour in the centre of the Isle of Wight are a step closer — as plans have now been approved as a starting point for major changes.
At a meeting of the Isle of Wight Council’s cabinet last night (Thursday), the Newport Harbour Masterplan (NHM) was unanimously approved.
The masterplan, which would aid further planning applications, contains ambitious proposals for the waterfront and surrounding areas by building a new hotel, multi-storey car park and footbridge across the River Medina while also using brownfield sites to provide housing, some of which will be affordable.
Speaking at the meeting, Cllr Wayne Whittle, cabinet member for regeneration and business development said:
“The potential scope the site has for enhancing Newport, extending the town centre and bringing the derelict buildings back into use is a key priority for the regeneration strategy.
“The masterplan gets the balance right between ambition and delivery, providing three phases of mixed-use development including a new cultural and conference facility for the Island with much needed new hotel capacity.”
Cllr Whittle also spoke of other positives the council hopes the site will create, such as jobs, more users of the harbour and more people travelling into the town on foot instead of via car by using the new footbridge.
Following the approval of the masterplan, development plots will be put on the market but Cllr Whittle said government funds will be needed to help make some plots viable and to help support the wider infrastructure.
The suggestion of around 40 houses on the entrance to Seaclose Park has been removed from the masterplan following backlash from the local community.
Cllr Barry Abraham, the cabinet member for planning and housing, said he was apprehensive about putting the houses there in the first place but now it has been taken out, other brownfield areas in the harbour and around Newport will offset the loss of housing on Seaclose.
He said:
“We will need to look how we encourage more people into the town and indeed more people to live in the town.
“If we are going to stop a lot of the greenfield developments that people so dislike, the only way we are going to be able to do it is to look at our towns and see how we can regenerate them.
“Newport has a large area of brownfield sites, sites that are not actually used, and that is what we really need to push forward.”
Now, 228 residential units could be built through the development phases which will help fund parts of the project — the first phase could see 149 residential units, 49 being affordable, built first.
Vote this awful council out.
Talk about putting a Fox in charge of the ‘hen house’
Now let us see who the ‘choice’ of developer is, tickled PINK they will be. CAPTIVAted too.
Good God. This man had to have a special bed created from contorted Willow, so as he could sleep straight at night, and he is ‘trusted’ with millions in public funds?
Vote the entire lot out next given chance.
Lets hope he has a large mantle shelf on which to put all those large ‘Thank You’ cards along with all the Christmas cards this year. Seems a sizeable house so hopefully not an issue.
these people in the council are only trying to concrete over the island, so that more people move here ,which ensures a higher take in council tax payments and additional funding from government, which enables them personally to get higher wages, higher pension contributions and higher expenses claims.
What they do not care about, is the fact that those moving here, will move back to the mainland after a while, when they realise that there aren’t the jobs here, there isn’t much to do outside of summer and the high streets are just about dead.
All we will end up with is loads of empty houses, that eventually become part of the social housing stock and have people “relocated” from other areas of the country to – especially those deadbeats that have caused nothing but problems in every area they are put in.
This is called the garden isle for a reason and it is time the councillors were held to account – even if that means personally discussing it with them, up close, in their leisure time or even when they are out shopping.
The isle of wight green party is strangely silent on this environmental terrorism of building more and more benefit hutches.
The person named is know for ‘alleged’ illicit dealings in staffing cash payments of those on benefits in their private businesses he owns both here and on the mainland. How the hell can such be trusted with vast sums of our money?
If these people are allowed to remain in office, then our children’s future will be safer in Haiti than here.
Absolute stupidity. This much housing is NOT needed for the Island so where is the increased population coming from ?. Also there is no mention of any additional GP Surgery which is already desperately needed
Hardly a surprise. But to have the most untrustworthy in charge of businesses?
These need to be gone, and fast, before all our poll tax payments are gone.
The Krays were ‘good’ at making money, but HMG jailed them not put them in charge of business affairs.
Vote this cretin and birds of a feather flock out.
Some consider such a second coming Messiah.
For he has done what many, many people could never achieve.
He has given the sick the strength to work, along with those long term unemployed the power to get off their backsides, just by the slight of his hand.
For as this healing hand caressed their own ice cream splattered palms, by a miracle, twenty pound notes were then to suddenly appear in their clenched fists.
And, when the benefit payment was checked, those blessed by his touch rejoiced to see that they were still all intact.
He should be made a Saint of the workshy.
Apparently the miracle never ended there.
Upon the accountant checking the books at the end of each tax year, no trace of this unearthly happening was ever to be seen nor traced.
Of course it was approved, as was the admin order for larger than usual brown envelopes.
More Tory fascism.
Great, Another expensive urban vanity project. Cant wait. What we REALLY need are more doctors surgeries and dentists surgeries Don’t see any of those earmarked for this development. Still, its all about the profit, and not about what we really need. Pretty much a given that after the first tranche of benefit housing goes up the project will fizzle out and be a half assed liability.
a new cultural and conference facility for the Island with much needed new hotel capacity.
Why do we need a cultural and conference facility, or is this just another name for Casino? and of course the hotel to go with it?
Are they going to turn the harbour into the Las Vegas of the UK?
Councillor Whittle wouldn’t approve such a plan for Ryde, as he’d be lynched. He said as much recently in The Simeon Arms. A fine pub, despite some of the customers, myself included.
More houses, SOME affordable!! They need to take a long hard look at the islands capital, Newport, the empty shops, it all looks a sorry mess. Concentrate on getting the High Street back to a thriving community where residents and visitors would want to visit and shop keepers can make a decent living, NOT MORE BLOODY HOUSES. What’s wrong with these impeciles in County Hall. They haven’t got a clue what the island needs or wants. VOTE THEM ALL OUT AT THE NEXT LOCAL ELECTION.
Private sector should be taking the risk for these plans, why should public funds be put at risk by councillors’ hopes. People won’t suddenly ditch their cars and start walking to the shops over a footbridge. Again council don’t understand retail economics.
Seems to me that the council have seen an easy way to make, easy money.
They know that the UK’s population has grown out of all proportion since allowing in newcomers.
The effect of this is that housing is then in short supply in such areas, for, unlike normal growth, the population arriving is mostly poor, so cannot afford to buy, or pay the full private rent but rely on councils or housing groups to supply a home.
This has forced up house prices and rents in such affected areas due to supply and demand, as the council then have to top up what these people cannot afford to pay. So people in private homes can then sell up on that rise, and wishing to escape an area they hardly now recognise and move to places like here, where so far, we don’t have the masse influx, and so property is still cheap compared.
The worry for us, is that these affected mainland councils and housing groups under huge pressure from the inorganic demand for homes, then will PAY our council to take those they can’t find homes for.
So, we then end up with our countryside lost, forever, and, as anyone wise would do, ‘their’ council then send the most ‘challenging’ tenants if willing to go, as they are the most troublesome to keep.
If in doubt ASK our council IF they get payment to take in such.
So, we end up with more overcrowding, more ruination of countryside, busy roads, longer delays in awaiting doctors, dentists, hospital appointments, and a far, far worse population regards crimes that were still quite rare here.
Our council will then be making vast sums from such payments, more council tax, and rents, and then will have their own private health care, private schools, and will ensure that THEY live miles away from the horrors they inflict upon the rest of us, and will put up OUR council tax to pay for the people we never wanted here in the first instance.
VOTE THEM ALL OUT.
Am i right in thinking the local elections are next year? The only trouble is the conservative local party are crap and corrupt, the party they replaced in 2017 was the independents and they
almost ruined us. So where do we go from here we have no real choice of quality candidates..
This would have been a great opportunity for the Green party to prevent house building destroying our island, unfortunately where have they disappeared to?
But surely they have omitted the most important part of the whole project, the demolition of County Hall. Just imagine all those posh flats you could build there. Well at least it would put the land to a useful purpose, which is something that cannot be claimed currently.