Sandown Bay is a better area to bear the brunt of the Island’s housing need than the West Wight, according to a Freshwater councillor.
Councillor John Medland’s comments were prompted by the plan for 130 homes in Freshwater, which he blasted as ‘completely inappropriate’.
Developer, Tallulah Estates, has submitted an application to the Isle of Wight Council for outline permission for the homes on Camp Road in Freshwater — including 46 affordable properties.
Previous attempts have been made to develop the site but plans from 2013 for 8 houses were turned down due to insufficient information in planning documents. The site of the new housing scheme is allocated for at least 90 homes in the draft Island Planning Strategy.
As only outline plans have been submitted, all detailed matters relating to the final scale, layout, appearance, access and landscaping will be determined through later applications.
Freshwater South councillor, Mr Medland, however, has said it was a crazy idea and made no sense to build that large an amount of ‘quite expensive housing’ in an area where there is need for more employment. He said:
“It won’t meet our local housing objectives and it will create an extra burden in a sense: a huge amount of extra housing when we have very low levels of social infrastructure, when you think of the retail, health service and public services.
“We are out on a limb here, it is like building a city at Land’s End.”
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It is not just the Camp Road site worrying Cllr Medland, but the other developments in the area like the 44 properties at Birch Close, which will add pressure to the already stretched basic infrastructure.
Cllr Medland said previous housing plans focused on the Medina, Ryde and the Bay area. He said:
“It is very odd to see these quite huge applications, eventually giving us more new allocated houses than the Sandown Bay area.”
The draft housing strategy pencils in 255 new dwellings in Freshwater, Totland and Colwell, compared to 243 in Shanklin, Sandown and Lake.
Cllr Medland says the infrastructure in the Bay area, with railway and bus connections and the road network, means it is the place to build the extra housing. He said:
“The Bay has got it all, everything is close to hand, whereas we are 12 miles away from everywhere.”
Caveats, however, have been given to the Bay area due to flood risk, topography and coastal issues.
A public meeting took place last week, with 150 attendees, which Cllr Medland was hugely pleased with the outcome of. Another meeting will take place this Friday (17th September) at 19:00 in the Freshwater Parish Hall.
Isle of Wight MP Bob Seely is said to be attending to speak to residents, continuing his campaign against greenfield developments on the Island.
Comments on the planning application, 21/01552/OUT, can be submitted until 24th September via the council’s planning portal.
Funny that, cos housing is already very dense in the bay. Much more open space in the West.
Infill infill that’s all it is.
As said before what about the 200 acres plus that the Ministry of Justice owns, does nothing with around the former Camphill Prison, Farm, clubhouse?
Not that any more houses are needed on the Island at all – infrastructure is not adequate. Just tell the Government NO.
tallulah estates keeps cropping up in nearly all these applications -perhaps the people behind this outfit, need to be hauled into court to explain their wanton desire to wreck the islands environment, create more pollution and more destruction. Their scattergun approach to applications is nothing short of disgusting – these people need to be publicly humiliated for their lack of sense regarding the climate emergency the council declared.
tallulah just adds to the CO2 in the atmosphere, by concreting over the greenery that draws it out and naturally stores it in the ground.
MONEY LAUNDERING ! Tried in St helens as well !
He’s just looking after his own. Will drive Sandown down hill
Absolutely.. not a good idea to be so selfish as to suggest another building area Mr Medland ! The councillors for all areas should get together and stop the building right across the Island instead of banging the drum against in their own areas.
This is one island – no more building should be the way forward, but obviously the homeless living here, or those in the awful B and B places need to be sorted as a priority, then that’s it end of.
At risk of being controversial, but what about all the second homes and holiday lets that stand empty for six in every twelve months? How many new homes would be needed if second homes and holiday lets were sold off to genuine residents?
Selfishness is a poor character trait.
Population density on the Island is already hugely lopsided towards the East.
And the issue is clearly not just about houses.
I’m sorry but I don’t understand the objection. I grew up on the west Wight and used to play in that field. Yet I cant see why you wouldn’t want to bring more people to an already isolated end of the IOW. This will bring more money to local shops, money to the community, create jobs. There’s plenty of farmland on the island untouched. Bring more money to Freshwater, modernise it to beyond the 1970’s, Maybe a shop doesn’t have to be a charity shop. There is next to no appeal for younger families to live over that side, unless they have family local, because its so outdated. We got excited because you had a tesco coming, C’mon guys!?
Well, he would, wouldn’t he?
Typical Liberal who if he lives to the North in a town campaigns for a by-pass to the South, and if lives to the South, a by-pass to the North.
‘the Island’s housing need’ But I don’t think the majority of these planned housing estates will be for Islanders, they’ll be for people from the mainland whom the Council get paid for housing over here.
What I believe we need is more starter homes for young Islanders – older people already on the housing ladder are already well catered for, there’s over 700 homes currently for sale here on Rightmove.
So, if we just look at the housing needs for Islanders there’s no way we need these big new estates. Just a few more starter homes will do.
But, of course, the Council just sees the Pound notes and doesn’t care what the residents want.
Yep ££££. That is the only reason I can think of why they are messing about with Ryde “interchange” (esplanade) and trying to make Newport into a “city”. Now we are just waiting for the fixed link to come along ! They call it progress, I call it cultural suicide.
Freshwater and Totland are full of old people lets get building and get young blood into the area.
Many of the existing young blood in Freshwater and Totland can be seen wrecking and vandalising their environment, but yes, lets encourage more feckless louts to the area.
To paraphrase Cllr Medland, “Not in my back yard”, or NIMBY.
The retired generation protecting their investment at the cost of the younger generation who need a place to live. They may have stopped living but others need a home to live in, many of whom are employed to take care of these coffin doggers.
Well said Fred, that’s a first.
People go on about age as though that alone is more important than anything to judge a person’s worth, but it should be what someone is actually like, whether or not they are a decent human being. Some older folks may be valuable members of society, doing good, putting something good into the world, caring about our environment & doing their bit to protect it, whereas some young people might be selfish takers of anything they can get & put nothing back, do no good and destroy the environment by their actions, & maybe some are violent druggies or alkies too, but by some criteria they are more important merely by age. Wrong thinking!
Old school oldies have all but gone now (god bless em) the ones that lived through the blitz etc. The new generation of oldies think that the world owes them a living just for being old,whilst they skit about on there disabled scooters, hence,this is why most are overweight and suffer from diabetes,and continually block up the GP and NHS services.
Just waiting to go on there next bi-anaul cruise,and then buggering off to Spain for the winter. They also seem to live forever, and all they do is moan and complain. (This is your typical Tory voter).
It’s true some are like that, but that wasn’t the ones I’m thinking of. There are still plenty of older people who have decent values and look after themselves and do not become the types you are referring to. The ones I know of who would fall into the category you describe all come from benefit scrounging families and live in social housing, they don’t go to Spain for the winter but certainly are always complaining about everything. My point was people cannot be classed as more important merely for being young, it depends on what someone is like as a person and many older people are more valuable and decent human beings than some young people are, and vice versa too of course. Judge someone’s worth on the type of person they are, not on what age they are.