A rejected 14-house development deemed ‘visually intrusive’ by Isle of Wight planners has been appealed.
Applicants Downer and Long are looking to overturn County Hall’s refusal of their outline application for 14 homes on land at Comforts Farm off Northwood’s Pallance Road.
The proposal comprises three building types: 4x 2-bed semi-detached houses, eight three bed detached houses and 2x 3-bed semi-detached houses.
It also includes a vehicular access next to the current road entrance to Comforts Farm and a driveway within the site which would be behind a row of trees facing Pallance Road.
An appeal statement prepared by Phil Salmon Planning says the case ‘sits at the heart’ of the ‘issue of planning for housing need in sustainable locations’.
“This issue has become all the more pertinent since April 2025 when the Planning Inspectorate responded to the draft Island Planning Strategy and found the plan to be unsound as a consequence of a lack of housing delivery and requiring the authority to find more land for housing,
“This appeal scheme is shown to be acceptable with regards to meeting the need for housing, complying with sustainability credentials, public transport accessibility, design and layout requirements, biodiversity net gain, landscape amenity, and ecology.
“Housing requirements are growing, and the Island needs sites such as this to be brought forward to meet emerging targets in excess of 1,000 new homes per year.”
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The statement notes a commitment to signing a Section 106 legal agreement providing for affordable housing and Solent Special Protection Area mitigation.
In addition, the appeal includes a submitted hedgerow assessment and drainage scheme.
The council report justifying the plans’ previous refusal cited concerns over ‘safe pedestrian access’, a lack of drainage and hedgerow information, highway safety, local and affordable housing needs, effects on the environment and a ‘serious adverse impact’ on the area’s character.
Are they social housing properties what young Islanders need!,
or are they overpriced properties for families moving
to the island to purchase!,
If so there are plenty of island properties for sale on rightmove.