“Let’s go back to the drawing board on the massive Pennyfeathers homes scheme for Ryde” – that is the call from the Mayor of Ryde this week as he says the people behind it appeared to be ‘playing for time’ on the scheme that is ‘stepped with secrecy and underhandedness’.
As a planning deadline looms, the people behind the controversial 900-home development are trying to change the conditions of permission — but Ryde mayor and ward councillor Michael Lilley says they are doing it just to keep it alive.
In applications submitted to the Isle of Wight Council, the listed applicant, Hepburns Planning Consultancy, are asking for wording to be amended to support applications of reserved matters, as previously reported by Island Echo.
The plans for Pennyfeathers, a huge development filling the gap between Smallbrook Junction and Busy Bee Garden Centre, submitted by Pennyfeathers Property Company, were approved in September 2017, to build up to 904 houses, a school, community centre, commercial buildings, a sports building and more. However, an application for reserved matters for Phase 1 of the development must be made to the council’s planning team in the 3 following years since permission was granted — which expires just under 3 months away, on 31st August.
Island Echo understands the application will be submitted in July.
After the reserved matters of Phase 1 are approved, building works can begin within 2 years of that permission.
Now, though, Hepburns are asking to change the wording of 1 condition, about submitting a phasing plan for the development as it has been ‘constructed somewhat awkwardly’ and ‘prejudices the ability of a reserved matters application being made in a timely manner’.
Cllr Lilley said the developers had had 3 years to come back with the full planning permission application and are putting in variation orders simply, in his mind, to keep the development alive. He said:
“It is simply stalling.
“The whole of Pennyfeathersgate is steeped in rumour and secrecy. Who is ever going to invest in this white elephant?
“This scheme demands millions of pounds of investment — who in their right mind is going to post-Covid 19 invest in something where even the Development Agent is closing down. It is a scandal and should be exposed publicly as one.
“We are now experiencing a life-threatening pandemic and the housing needs of the town have totally changed overnight.
“The landowners and developers of Pennyfeathers should do the honourable, ethical and moral thing and let the outline application fall on August 31 and there should be a new open and transparent discussion with all stakeholders in what Ryde genuinely needs.
“Covid-19 has told us one important lesson and people, residents and community come before profit.
“I will be 200 per cent fighting this and all large developments in my ward, as a resident and as an IW and town councillor.”
Cllr Lilley also said the houses at the top of Marlborough Road and Westridge Junction brought by the company, which have had the greenery taken out after residents’ complaints, have been left derelict and are now an eyesore ‘for all to see as they enter Ryde from the Sandown direction’. However, as first reported by Island Echo on Thursday, a planning application has been submitted to make changes to the junction.
2 other conditions are also asked to be changed, 1 adding ‘commercial’ to a sentence and another to change the number of houses occupied before cycle and footways have been constructed, surfaced and drained — from none to no more than 100.
Ryde Town Council object to the changes though, saying the condition being changed about foot and cycleways “should ensure that any house across the whole site which is occupied should be serviced by safe and highways compliant vehicular, pedestrian and cycle access and egress.”
In a planning statement, Hepburns said:
“It does not appear reasonable for a condition to impinge on the time allocated for a reserved matters application.
“A simple change to the wording at the start to “With the” [from ‘Prior to’] carries forward the intention of the condition and allows a lawful submission of a reserved matters application.”
Lets cancel it altogether. NO MORE BUILDING ON THE ISLE OF WIGHT.
Newport and Ryde are congested as it is without adding to it. Whatever is done to the roads to fix the problem, within a short time it needs doing again. The roads will never be sustainable in the long run either. With holiday traffic it is exacerbated. A journey home is pretty much doubled at these times.
exactly just mundane – the idiots want 904 houses, which will likely have a car each, meaning 904 cars pouring onto and off marlborough road each and every day – that road has tailbacks to the roundabout at tesco and beyond at peak times on most days – they don’t care – they don’t live here.
Most households have a minimum of two cars, so, potentially that’s 1800 extra cars. Also, building concrete onto a flood plan will only exasperate more flooding as well as increasing pollution.
I would rather see monies fed into derelict properties in the town of Ryde, enticing residents to shop locally.
ONE car each dwelling is being very optimistic. Most homes private or ‘social’ have at least two cars. And plenty of older BMW’s for the druggy chavs given a free home to peddle their trade whist claiming. Watch and see.
Build it now more jobs
900+ dwellings. Who will fill these properties? How many social properties? Will troublesome families from the mainland be housed here? We certainly don’t want them here. More crime, drugs and antisocial behaviour. This used to be such a lovely place to live. It still is but it is changing, slowly and not for the better either. 900+ is too many. Our roads will become ‘clogged’ with traffic. IOW Council don’t care. They do not have the islands best interests at heart. Driven by money.
While I understand your concerns but to stop building stops the economic growth of the Island, I’ve read the plans and 900 homes is the highest estimate it is more likely to be 600. The homeless situation on the island is terrible and if you like it or not these people need somewhere to live. These are children and grandchildren of longtime island residents who need housing. I’ve noticed a island mentality when it comes to building more homes for others. It’s a not on my doorstep go elsewhere mentality. This is an extremely selfish outlook and one that shames the good open minded people of out beautiful island.
@the truth.
the island has a very small, finite amount of space available. It is not a massive land mass that can accommodate it all. Shall we prop up houses over the cliff edge with stilts to the beach when we run out of space – based on your flawed logic.
There were 28 rough sleepers on the island in 2018 – hardly justifies 900 houses does it.
There are numbers of islanders moving and dying on the island, which means houses are taken over by grandchildren/children or new occupants move in.
we do not want more pollution, more people, more cars and more mess on this island and that is that.
you move to a large city if you want that many people – we do not.
perhaps if greed selfish second home owners from elsewhere weren’t buying up half of seaview etc then there would be enough housing for islanders.
put a stop to that or at least apply an economic damage levy to the 2nd home owner for not occupying the place for the majority of the year and as such, depriving the local economy of the revenue it would expect to get from a household that is occupied.
eg 1 person buys say.. £40 of food a week. if that person lives on the island, that is £2080 into the local economy on food.
if that same person is a second home owner and only visits the island for a couple of weeks a year – that is only £80 to the local economy from that household.
economic damage levy should be £2k charge to any one having a second home here on the island.
The price of 2nd homes are normally not in the bracket of starter or 1st home prices The cottage next door to me has just sold to a holiday home buyer for over £500K. The house across the road was over £700K a few years back and a mainland solicitor owns it.
hepburns planning consultancy is closing down – this unwanted and unnecessary development and destruction of greenfields, oxygen generating plant life, natural habitat of all sorts of creatures and insects, natural run off for rain water, natural ability to removed CO2 from the atmosphere needs to be stopped.
This is not for islanders – these proposed houses were advertised as far away as sheffield.
hepburns address is in merstone. They need educating, that we do not want this crappy, polluting, benefit hutch development here – if they want 904 houses, then build them in merstone.
we will protest and disrupt any development
This en-masse development is mostly favourable to the developer and council both of whom will gain greatly financially. And it is not coincidence neither of whom will be living anywhere near the carnage they create for the rest of us.
The delightful artists impressions and quaintly chosen road names such a ‘Angels Close’, ‘Oak tree avenue’ etc, will be a far cry from the snapped off trees, litter strewn shrubs, and communal parking areas, dog dirt smeared cycle paths, and playground unsafe as littered with needles and smashed glass from the inner city mob, which our council will collect its 30 pieces of silver from their relieved housing authorities to house there.
Sure some Island families will also be housed there, those with ‘enough points’ aka those with the most children with varying ‘issues’, single parents yet with very ‘close’ contact to a violent ex, and ex-offenders currently under the police radar until they become ‘current’ offenders once more.
The wildlife in this area is stunning, the ancient woods, the huge wild flower meadows stretching down the the always flowing brook, all currently a haven for the decent people of Elmfield and Oakfield who find respite as they walk their dogs, and children into a little escape from tiny box homes with tiny, communal or no gardens at all.
Most of us to be fair would moan if twenty or so houses were built on green field sites, but we accept and understand that peoples numbers are growing and new homes need to be built.
Yet when well over a thousand homes are to be built in Ryde in a short space of time, then we can ‘see’ that this is more about greed, perhaps corruption, and as the Pennyfeather developments group never disclosed who exactly they were, and bought several properties to demolish long before ‘planning’ was approved, and the huge sum they have spend on environmental reports etc, SHOWS that they ‘knew’ that permission was to be granted only proves to the doubters of honesty, that it is likely right to not trust anyone.
So protests alone will do nothing, apart from, at best, win some trivial, token gesture appeasement.
Don’t be stupid most islanders are OK with it we need more houses and money for the island and they don’t all use needles most drug pushers are island born and breed lock at the court paperd
Look
The country is undergoing a deflationary shock to its economy. That means a credit contraction and general price deflation as well – including houses. The unemployment being created by the waves of people losing their jobs and those still on furlough, that haven’t realised their job is gone already is going to create a massive downward pressure on prices of everthing.
The main reason the government is pumping this much cash into the system directly, as are governments around the world, is to offset the impact of the deflationary slump that we are enduring.
Pennyfeathers is a white elephant now – the cost of building and the deflationary slump we are in, means investors are likely to take a loss – they won’t fund it. They shouldn’t be investors if they do, at this time.
we do not need all the houses and various other projects going on, they think we do .Only one hospital and most of the time we have to go to mainland for treatment, This a very beautiful island and people love to come here but if we keep on building they will not come and who will be upset not the residents the council need to sort this kind of thing going on.
900 new homes, on average 3 per house, that’s 2,700 people, now, how will the hospital cope, the roads, oh yes the council will be getting a lot of cash from council tax, but you can be rest assured none of that new cash goes anywhere near helping the infrastructure. Just scrap the whole idea.
Best to put forward your views to the IW Councils planning.
already been in contact with ryde town council
What would be the point of that? They take no notice.
Ryde town council all voted AGAINST this, it made no difference as the Main council decided to go fully against them and as we have those with vested interests in such getting this through on planning , it made no difference at all, not even a token gesture reduction in house numbers.
So our lone voices will count for nothing. These developers and council ‘friends’ know exactly how to ‘play’ the game. They know what objections will be raised ‘before’ they are asked, they know just how to answer, how to appease, and how to reassure, and know, even if the entire Ryde population were against such, no matter to them, they KNOW how to please those who decide such, and our silly little complaints, of wildlife, green spaces, dog walking, recreation, flooding, traffic, work, doctors, schools, anti social and crime increasing are all pre answered by ‘getting around each concern, by promising new footpaths, cycle lanes, planting programmes, ponds, planting trees, road layouts, the false promise of a doctors, school and vetting tenants.
Much of which will never happen of course, but too late when permission is given, and ‘who’ cares when you are living miles away, in a secluded leafy lane, with a holiday home in some glorious location abroad, with more wealth from ruining wildlife and the plebs life on some Island that ‘means’ nothing to you.
Even the ‘sweeteners’ which ARE provided will be small change to what we and more importantly to what wildlife will have lost.
A few ornamental Cherry trees, likely soon to be snapped off, will never, ever replace magnificent trees and hedgerows with origins dating back hundreds of years, with other the diverse wildlife living in the huge canopy relying on ancient trees and hedges for food, and living, not some stupid ‘pretty’ but useless stick of a tree poking up through concrete or block paving.
A pond will be just full of cans and junk, parks and open areas have no wildlife just lowlife, and any road ‘improvements’ will only ‘push’ the problem down to the next ‘unimproved’ congestion spot.
This will ruin not just Ryde, but Brading, Ashey, Seaview and all roads in and out of such.
See it how it will be, not how they ‘tell’ you it will be, for the two will be vastly different.
If their messing about….turn it all in to green belt !
Ryde Council are a joke. It is very clear indeed that the local population do not want PennyFeathers to go ahead, It is also clear that the local economy/ infrastructure cannot support it, and there are not enough jobs for a new community. So why is it even being discussed. Has money changed hands somewhere?
Ok build more houses but where are the jobs for these people there are no major employers on the island and never will be again whites bae gkn holiday camps have either closed or cut their workforce dramatically over the last few decades and post lockdown end of furlough payments will be looking to see how much work is out there or to cut workers so 900+houses with what chance of employment ? add to that the development down puckpool hill just idiotic
Probably going to take so many problem families from the mainland the IOW council will be laughing their balls off. They get paid handsomely you know. They could make up the shortfall of funds they keep telling us about and give themselves a nice big pay rise aswell!
Brading Road Boulevard !?! What knob thought that up ?
Back to the drawing board. A nice sheet of green drafting film. Its green. Leave it green. No drawing, no writing. Leave it as is. Job done. Next……….
The change in wording is so that they can start building without the infrastructure in place and as they sell, they build more etc,
BUT,
all the little things like play areas, trees,that cost them money with no profit will never be put in place, and no amount of complaining or legal action will get the development completed as agreed.
Do not let them change a thing … other than stoping it.
I have been studying the plan, couldn’t find the site of the Mosque on it. Surely not a deliberate omission to keep the impression that ‘Islanders’ will be filling these homes?