The Isle of Wight Council has been awarded almost £1million in Government funding to bring forward 3 potential brownfield sites for local housing.
The windfall will be used to seek to develop disused land at the former Island Learning Centre off Berry Hill in Lake; Thompson House off Sandy Lane in Gatcombe and the former Weston Academy in Totland.
In total, the sites could provide around 70 homes to help local people and families get on the property ladder.
The funding – which totals £949,765 – comes from the government’s ‘Brownfield land Release Fund’ which is designed to regenerate and ‘level up’ towns and cities across the country.
The bidding process was highly competitive with all English local authorities eligible to apply. The money is provided on the basis that the sites are released for development by March 2024.
Councillor Julie Jones-Evans, Cabinet member for regeneration and business development, said:
“This is fantastic news for the Island. Making the most of previously developed land will help protect our cherished countryside and green spaces.
“Delivering affordable housing for Island residents is a key priority for this council and this grant funding is a step forward in achieving that aim.”
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Island MP Bob Seely has been leading a parliamentary campaign on planning and housing, arguing that the Government should do more to ensure building takes place on brownfield land. He has repeatedly objected to greenfield developments across the Island, arguing that they are harmful to the environment.
Welcoming the news, Mr Seely said:
“I am delighted the Government has created this fund and allocated us a share of it. I and others have been suggesting to the Government that more money is made available to support brownfield clean-up for housing.
“We need housebuilding, in sensitive numbers, in exiting communities, for Islanders. What we do not need is low density, car dependent, greenfield development which damages our quality of life, our tourism economy and which does permanent damage to the landscape.”
it is not fantastic news – it is just another scheme dressed up to bring more people to the island and to clog up the already overstretched infrastructure.
Greedy councillors and developers will be salivating over how much they can all rinse out of it in meeting fees.
When my grandchildren are forced to move to the mainland because you’ve blocked all development and they can’t find a place to live on the island I’ll send them around to you to explain why you blocked every development. Bloody NIMBY lot only think of their house prices.
Tom, there’s plenty of places to live on the Island, both to buy and to rent. The thousands of homes being planned are not for Islanders, they are for people being imported from the mainland. Some of these will be retired people moving here but a substantial number are those being off-loaded by other Local Authorities and our Council is being given cash to house them here. There’s a good reason why these people are being off-loaded by other Councils. You only have to look at the News reports to see the problems they bring with them.
Where is the proof about council being paid to house mainlanders; it’s become island folklore I know, given number of times it’s repeated on here. But corner of the pub repetition, like constant assertions that councillors are greasing their own palms, doesn’t make it so. Only idle gossip. If anyone can prove it, I stand corrected, but I’m not holding my breath
@tom – if the council stopped allowing those on benefits to move to the island at the taxpayers expense, stopped accepting any asylum seekers and stopped those buying second homes and rarely using them, then there would be plenty of housing stock available for all, without building another house.
The issue is over population, not a shortage of housing – this endless, stupid, building on the island must stop – the island isn’t going to get bigger, which means every house built, is less greenfield left.
it isn’t that difficult to work out is it.
me me me attitude, I guess you don’t go out in the fresh air much, you would rather sit in your concrete palace and type drivel like that. Maybe they would prefer to move off this island, more jobs, better prospects, well that is unless your a developer or in the councils pockets.
Surely it would be better to build Council houses for Island families to live in
not houses for people to get on to the property ladder !!
Well from the Home Office money (6.3 million) paid to take over the maintenance of roads at Camp Hill we’ve seen 10metres of new tarmac laid on the pavement outside an ex councillors house, so I don’t expect to see much from this. (Unless I become a councillor!)
Another amount of cash to be squandered by our Council no doubt.
Complete shambles , with our sky high Council tax more mistakes are bound to happen plus more rises next year .
Shame on them!
They need to make sure that in the covenant the properties can not be rented out either as buy to let or air B&B. Also that have to be main residence and not second home. All that is happening at the moment is the rich are doing buy to let forcing the young generation into high rent properties.
Funny these council people will be so stuffed with money from developers, they’ll have no problem leaving the overcrowded sinking island and buy their nice homes on the mainland.
Stop using the blanket term ‘brownfield’. This leads many to think it is just polluted land, all brown, and probably full of rusting machinery, etc. Many so called brownfield sites have been colonised by wild plants and therefore other species of wildlife and each site should be evaluated on its own merits and if found to be of value to our environment, should be preserved. There are plans for the UK to plant thousands of trees as we so desperately need them, but I can’t see that happening on the Island. Too many people is the problem, loads of immigrants come here and breed breed breed and the do gooders want homes for them. Stop!