A major barrier to the long-awaited regeneration of Newport Harbour has been removed with the granting of a harbour revision order by the government.
The order, approved by the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) and Parliament last week, will enable the Isle of Wight Council to negotiate longer term leases for existing and new harbour tenants.
The approval comes almost a year since the council first unveiled its masterplan for the harbour, with ambitious proposals to regenerate the waterfront and surrounding areas.
Key proposals of the masterplan include a new cultural centre, hotel, multi-storey car park and a footbridge over the River Media. The plans also include much-needed affordable homes.
Welcoming the news, Councillor Wayne Whittle, Cabinet member for regeneration and business development, said the council’s successful application marked an important milestone for the project. He said:
“The granting of the order effectively takes the brakes off the scheme and puts us in a position where progress can be made.
“The timing is significant as the Island seeks to recover from the devastating coronavirus pandemic. Having all the permissions and flexibilities in place to attract investors means our harbour plans can play a major part in Newport’s and the Island’s post-pandemic future.
Article continues below this advertisement “Our redevelopment plans for the harbour will concentrate on existing ‘brownfield’ sites. We want to avoid the development of greenfield sites on the Island where possible.”
Previous rules dating back to 1847 severely constrained the council in that it could only offer potential tenants short-term leases – up to a maximum of 3 years – on buildings and units within the harbour.
With the removal of that restriction, Chris Ashman, the council’s director of regeneration, said Newport harbour was a flagship regeneration opportunity for investors. He explained:
“The three year limitation has been a major barrier to the development and improvement of the harbour.
“Funding for developments are linked to the length of the potential lease the developer might be able to obtain to develop new housing, business units or a hotel.
“In the past, the restriction on occupation has likely impacted investment in the harbour by commercial operators who would not see sufficient return on any investment in such a short period of time to make it worthwhile. The harbour revision order finally removes that barrier.
“The continuing operation of the harbour as a working facility will always be an important consideration in moving forward and the revenues generated will make a contribution to the essential maintenance the harbour needs.
“The needs of the harbour users are also key and will be an important part of the scheme.”
A copy of the harbour revision order is available online at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/newport-isle-of-wight-harbour-revision-order-2018.
So the council will have the opportunity to offer longer leases, will they be as successful as their management of the Ryde ice rink one? Let’s be honest it will be another massive development of flats with inadequate parking, the rest will be watered down to an irrelevance
The phrase affordable homes is meaningless every home is affordable to someone .What we need on the Island are homes that are within the reach of people that are earning the the average wage or below it, What the council and our MP consider to be affordable home are beyond the reach of most young Islanders .
Never going to happen! The property market on the iow is very strong. I sold my terraced property in South London in 2011 for 390k bought a bungalow here for 350k now 10 years later it’s just been valued @ 480k .. I’ve just give the asking price of 500k for a property that needs 50k put into it, come summer it will be worth 800k if not more.. Happy days!
Yep I’ve just done the same .boom time .It’s great .
Well done. I’ll bet the South London house is worth over a million by now though. Mind you, who wants to live in South London?
I thought the council was hard up hence the huge rise in council tax. Leave regeneration of Newport Harbour to the private sector.
Affordable homes should be just that. They should carry a never ending covenant so that those who buy them can only sell them at the same percentage under house prices as they were when they purchased them so they don’t make a huge profit.
Ridicoulous idea .how is a young growing family going to buy a bigger house if they don’t make a profit ?
Key proposals of the masterplan include a new cultural centre, hotel, multi-storey car park and a footbridge over the River Media. The plans also include much-needed affordable homes.
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what a surprise..more benefit hutches being sneaked in
It’s all well and good to regenerate the harbour, but next to it is a town centre in retail decline which is in desperate need of a business rescue plan.
“The needs of the harbour users are also key and will be an important part of the scheme.”
Odd that, as there seems to ne a lack of moored boats.