Residents and St Helens Parish Council have raised flooding and traffic concerns over plans for 6 new homes at St Helens Coastal Resort.
St Helens Parish Council (SHPC) and 6 members of the public objected to Coastal Parks Hold Limited’s plan to demolish an existing storage building and construct residential accommodation at the south of St Helens Coastal Resort off St Helens’ Field Lane.
A previously submitted Planning Statement from Avison Young said new residential development at the site will generate ‘significant public benefits’ with a mix of sizes and types to meet a range of housing needs and the replacement of ‘underutilised storage areas’.
St Helens residents Patrick and Mary Towle told planners:
“This is outlined as market housing and not affordable homes, social or starter homes, which in the current housing situation is of no help to the community.
“We are worried about the effect on our house regarding flooding… the runoff from across the road where these houses are planned can be substantial when we have heavy rain.
“Drains cannot cope with surface water even with moderate rain and the public footpath is frequently flooded.”
A spokesperson for SHPC said:
“There are serious concerns about extra traffic within the area and safety both for pedestrians and vehicles. Each household has been allocated two parking spaces, which would potentially lead to 12 extra cars linking to the highway.
“In addition, there will be traffic from visitors – both personal and commercial – and there is no other provision for parking. This is likely to lead to the blocking or narrowing of access both for the proposed homes and nearby existing residents.
“The required construction traffic will be very intrusive to the properties within the area and to the residents of Field Lane and The Diggings, both being narrow roads.”
They also pointed to a ‘significant’ amount of water run off and asked what infrastructure will be implanted to address the issue.
Island Roads made no objection subject to a highway safety condition: no development taking place until details of a footway along the southern boundary of the site next to Field Lane has been approved by the council.
The recommended condition also states no home given consent should be occupied until the accepted footway has been entirely completed and open to the public.
Avison Young previously said:
“In terms of neighbouring amenity, the proposed development has been designed to ensure that they do not generate any impact on any of the neighbouring land uses, whilst also being located over 25 metres from the nearest development boundaries.
“Additional soft landscaping is proposed to ensure the site’s boundaries help to reduce any overlooking from both in and out of the development.
“From a highways perspective, the proposed scheme seeks to provide the relevant number of car parking spaces in line with the number of bedrooms proposed, while also being sufficiently located in close proximity to a number of bus stops, which provide sustainable transport alternatives.”
The Isle of Wight Council’s public consultation finished on April 27 and a June 30 agreed extended decision date has been set.
