‘We willl lose our home’’ — that was the grim message from a farmer affected by plans to build 475 houses on the outskirts of Ryde.
At a meeting of Ryde Town Council’s planning committee earlier this week, the authority agreed the plans for West Acre Park were not suitable for its town.
The development is being proposed for Westridge Farm, by Captiva Homes, who declined an invitation to attend the meeting and present its proposals. It would also include a GP surgery, a cafe and landscaped public spaces.
Tenant farmer Nigel Holliday and his family have been campaigning to save their home and livelihood for future generations — which, by law, Mr Holliday says should be able to be passed down to two further generations of the family.
In a passionate speech, Mr Holliday said following the loss of 11 acres to the building of 86 homes, also by Captiva, his family were led to believe there would be no further developments. He said:
“Our family are part of the Ryde community. If this application is successful then we will be forced to leave and we will be left with very little to move on and rebuild our lives.
“We have ambitions for the future to pasteurise and sell our milk to the community but we are unable to move forward with this investment, for our future, with this application hanging over us.
“If this application is approved we will lose our home and livelihood and the IW would lose yet another dairy farm and Ryde would lose this green space forever.”
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A total of 83 people responded to a call for views from the town council — 76 were against but seven were for.
Cllr Henry Adams said:
“The development is far too big for this part of Ryde, there is already enough traffic in the area and it will be far more when and if Hope Road is finished.
“This development is all about greed with no respect to the residents who have lived here for many years.”
Cllr Diana Conyers, planning committee chair, said:
“It is pretty evident we are in general against this development.”
Concerns raised by the town council included the pressure on infrastructure — schools, doctors and roads — the fact the development is outside the settlement boundary, the loss of wildlife and that the affordable housing is not affordable to Islanders.
An official objection will be submitted by Ryde Town Council to the Isle of Wight Council’s planning portal by today (Friday) when the consultation for the application closes.
Captiva are not an island company they only care about profit for themselves. They don’t give a toss about the island and should go and never set foot here again.
here here you have got it right we dont want anymore houses on the island there are too many second homes here so go away.The council could use the ryde theatre to house people in but agreed that a lot of work would have to be done to make it viable,I have passed that building so many times and always said what a waste that is standing there doing nothing.So no more houses please,say no no no to Captiva homes.
Captiva Are a island company. Do your home work. They are here to stay.
Well if they are then they don’t give a toss do you?.
Not really it’s all going to go some sort of bird up. Was you at the meetings. No you was not was you. So move on.
Captiva are Island based, the Pinks run such, and used to be hoteliers, but built the Springvale apartments and Luccombe eyesores.
Hence are well in with the Council now. So no prizes for guessing who will be building waterfront properties at Cowes. Very ‘cosy’ symbiotic relationship they have.
as captiva are an island company, it presents the opportunity to pay them a visit, if they think they can override the views of the majority and discuss it in person.
Stu first line wrong, sadly they are an Island based co.
Second line fully correct and they are ‘sooo’ in with the C ouncil, watch who gets the Cowes waterside contracts.
The Pinks, as another poster says ex Island hotel family, found easy money in developing, more so with friends in the right place.
Get building guys, forward thinking island for everyone
Put yourself in Nigel Holliday’s position and honestly think what you would be thinking. Would you have the same opinion? Be totally honest and post again your thoughts. You should apply for a position on the Isle of Wight Council Couldn’t Care For Anybody But Myself Department.
The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the individual.
So you would just walk away and throw away all the hard work put in without a care. Let down your family and future generations of the family with that attitude. Glad I never had a father like you.
the needs of the many require clean air and a reduction in pollution – building more benefit hutches and other holes, for more people to live in, doesn’t meet the needs of the many – no trees or plant life,means no oxygen produced and no CO2 extracted from the air by land based plants. Without the oxygen being produced, you and the rest of the human race dies, because it can’t breath
If we follow the short sighted and imbecllic logic of “the truth” to a full conclusion, the entire planet will be concreted over, to house unfettered growth in population, the isle of wight will have houses built on stilts over the cliff edges and almost everything will be dead or soon to be.
Some people just do not get it – no greenfields and plants – no oxygen, that means no human life on this planet
Sound to be over qualified even for that low life, corrupt, greedy, self centred lot.
apparently on their website Captiva have sold a lot of homes on the proposed build site.
My uncle has bought one, lovely little bungalow for 279k
Perhaps all the dead animals will come back to haunt him.
This development will go ahead because it has to, and not because the Island or the majority of Island people do not want it.
Why? just read the majority of the comments above.
No houses should ever be built other than on ‘brownfield’ sites, and this ain’t one.
Congratulations to Ryde Town Council. A job well done in protecting Ryde from greedy developers
‘Move Ryde forward’! I don’t think so! The general infrastructure cannot take any more huge estates. This one includes a Doctor’s surgery, nice to tangle a carrot!. But Doctors don’t want to come here. Look what happened in Brading, nobody wanted to take on an established surgery. So what happened, the patients were spread in all directions, 1500 to Ryde to already full Doctors. There is no work here, so the residents will be hitting the already full roads to work elsewhere. But it will go through, always do on appeal. 🙁
Before any more building happens on green field sites – use up the many empty buildings in our high streeets. Our high streets are quieter now and ideal to knock down the empty eyesores and build houses and flats. It is possible. Look at Pyle Street at the top of Newport Town – lovely little brick houses built in keeping. Also living in town takes away a car being essential – so possibly cuts down vehicles in the town.
YJC, in a non corrupt world, that would be what would happen.
BUT the symbiotic relationship betwixt Council and developer means far, far more money for BOTH comes from ruining huge cheap agricultural land, bought for say 10k an acre and suddenly worth millions ONCE planning is ‘given’.
This lucrative, easy ‘mark up’. by just ‘granting planning’ clearly can only happen with green field sites, as brown field sites will cost the developer a lot more for each plot, so the Council cannot accept the ‘thank you’ they would receive from developers as the huge massive life changing profit is just not there.
We need to vote these top councillors out next time.
A lot of people feel uneasy about the way they work.
Spot on ash. In a nutshell, this is ‘how’ it works.
The larger the one developer development, the larger the thank you will be.
Not possible or so easy if various small developments, without someone , honest, or undercut, blowing the whistle.
And, as you say, impossible to ‘make’ anywhere near as much with brown field sites as the land cost, already having been developed is far more expensive so the margins for ‘planner/developer are just not there as they are with ‘Green field sites’ just requiring a ‘yes’ from FOREGONE planning to add millions to the grateful developers coffers.
Great post.