SOLENT FUELS’ DEPOT RETROSPECTIVE PLANNING APPLICATION REJECTED BY COUNCIL

Permission has been refused for an Isle of Wight company’s fuel depot despite it being used for 2 years. Solent Fuels was created following the closure of Isle of Wight Fuels in East Cowes back in April 2021, to keep Island households heated and businesses supplied. It found a home at Park Green Farm, off Forest Road in Newport, but the planning permission did not cover fuel storage, and using the site as such was not authorised. The site has permission to be a civil engineering and general builders storage and operations depot — which the company believed covered the fuel depot. A retrospective application was submitted in July 2022 to amend the use but was refused earlier this month by the Isle of Wight Council. It deemed the depot, and vehicles that went to it, would have a ‘serious negative impact’ on the highways. The authority said it supports the fuel depot usage in principle, as it contributes to the Island’s economy and community wellbeing. When put against the ‘unacceptable’ impact it would have on the safe use of the roads, the council said the negatives would outweigh the positives and refused permission. Access to the site is down a narrow single-width track leading off Forest Road, with few passing places, which is also a public footpath. Island Roads objected to the plans saying the junction from Forest Road is of substandard design and ‘cannot safely accommodate’ the increase of traffic that would be generated for the fuel depot considering the size and type of vehicles. Concern was specifically raised about articulated fuel tankers that had to go onto the opposite side of the road to enter the lane when turning left from Forest Road. Planning officers visited the site last year with Island Roads to witness 1 of the movements where they said there was ‘little margin for error’ when the tanker entered the lane and it took up ‘virtually the whole width’ of the access road. Worries were also raised by Hampshire & Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service which said there was potential access and delay issues for emergency services, particularly given the lack of pavements for pedestrians and the limited space for vehicles to pass one another. The council said the proposals have also failed to demonstrate there was sufficient on-site parking and a turning space for large vehicles. Solent Fuels can appeal the council’s decision should it wish to.