A petition to save Westridge Farm was presented to the Isle of Wight Council yesterday (Tuesday) after notching up more than 4,200 signatures.
Archie Holliday, 9, the son of current Westridge Farm tenant farmer Nigel, wrote to Councillor Michael Lilley, his local ward representative, asking him to present the petition to the planning committee as his home may be in jeopardy.
The land belonging to Westridge Farm is subject to an application which could see 475 houses, some affordable, being built into a new housing estate called West Acre Park, by Island developers Captiva Homes.
Cllr Michael Lilley was arguing to stop the development on behalf of Archie, and his sister Poppy, who under the current agricultural tenancy agreement ‘have a legal right’ to inherit the farm and continuing the family tradition as adults if they wish. He said: “This is their human rights.”
The Holliday family have been offered a deal worth £800,000 to leave the land, despite being entitled to less than £50,000, but at the 11th hour they backed out of signing.
In Archie’s letter to Cllr Lilley, he said:
“I want to be a farmer when I grow up like my dad, my grandad and great-grandad at Westridge Farm.
Article continues below this advertisement “The landlord and developers want to build all these houses which will ruin the farm forever. I do not understand why houses can be built on land that is being used.”
Cllr Lilley went on to say the farm hands down skills over generations, ensuring guardianship of the environment. He said:
“It is a way of Island life which connects family and community. Archie is asking you to listen to him and the other petitioners in preserving his human rights and the rights of Ryde and Isle of Wight residents to preserve this farm, providing local food security for future generations.
“Archie and Poppy at their age, in a pandemic and the trauma the generation is experiencing should not be worried about whether they will have a home or future in 2021 at Christmas time.
“Please listen to them and consider their future. Once built on it will be lost forever, Archie’s dream will be lost forever.”
The petition was allowed to be heard at the committee, in a ‘one-off’ by the chair Cllr Chris Quirk as the issue is ‘important and emotive’.
Committee members were not allowed to discuss the petition as it was likely to put them in either a supportive or opposition position before the application came before the committee for determination.
Cllr Richard Hollis, however, left the meeting after complaining the petition was a form of lobbying and ‘totally inappropriate’ to be presented as it related to a live application. He said:
“This is not the forum and it is trying to sway the judgement of the committee and that is absolutely wrong.”
The petition was noted and formally received by the council and it was resolved that the planning officers would consider any material planning considerations raised before making their recommendation for the committee to determine.
Comments on the application have now closed and a decision is likely to be made by the committee next year.
This council and their far too close developers, are disgusting people, and the council needs to be gone and people who really care about the Island, and it’s long term residents need to replace those who only care about easy money, no matter who or what that gain damages in their pursuit of such.
Don’t leave the voting to others, ensure YOU do so at the next given chance.
What we all need to remember, this isn’t just a sob story over a little boy, or indeed the Holiday family, this is all about the vast ruination of acres of prime farmland, and all the wildlife that has been here for thousands of years, yet will be destroyed in months.
WE all will pay the price by more traffic, more delays, longer queuing time at doctors, hospital appointments, school places, crime, lack of jobs etc etc.
So don’t dismiss this as just another ‘cheap ploy’ to tug at heart strings.
For the reality of this masse building that this vile council are embarking on will ruin ALL our lives, ‘unless’ we financially gaining from this, and, as they can then do, move far away from the misery the rest are left with.
Vote this council out next time.
This Island is finished. And it will never recover until every last person employed by the council is gone and replaced by people with brain cells. Not only get rid of our usless councillors but also all on the (over the top) salaries. Councillors are only there to protect the ‘officers’ (mis-used word / title).
Trouble is under the exclusive two party system they count the votes in a rather strange old fashioned way.
I believe the term affordable to be totally misleading as the majority of lower paid worker can not afford them.
It also appears that when this term is included in the larger developments, this council appear to bow over backwards to allow it, yet on the other hand, the smaller developments appear to have councillors standing up objecting to them using the same grounds against them that the public use against the large developments.
This appears lopsided and i am wondering why?
Now a petition is past to the council, yet i do not believe they will take any notice of it.
Will they prove me wrong?
In answer to your statement Oldbutalive below:
“ in the larger developments, this council appear to bow over backwards to allow it, yet on the other hand, the smaller developments appear to have councillors standing up objecting to them using the same grounds against them that the public use against the large developments.
This appears lopsided and i am wondering why?”
IF as suspected by some, favours are thanked by developers or land owners to the council or planning members, then it is only feasible to do so with ‘deep meaning’ if the contracts for building are worth millions, rather than a few hundred thousands.
IF the planners give permission for one home, turning a small plot from ten thousand to a eighty thousands, not a great deal of cash to buy many thank you cards from the developer/owner.
Yet, turn a whole farm of one hundred acres from a million pounds worth of land to near a billion, and then enough cash to ‘really’ thank all those who were involved in making the developer and land owner rich.
By ‘playing the game’ and turning down small scale builds, it then APPEARS that the planning team are doing their job properly and ‘are’ concerned over green or other issues.
Think, then vote them out next time.
Offered 800k and said no. LoL Should have taken the money and ran! With that could have got a nice place on the mainland and stuck two fingers up to the island.
800k won’t buy a dairy farm anywhere .
Plus it was stage payments over several years depending on house sales, so not guaranteed
I’m with Tom. Use the money to buy a house then go back to collage and work in IT. Massive shortage of IT professionals. Earn more money and never be out of work or have someone sell your home out from under you. More spare time to be with family. I did it the early 90’s.
This isn’t the nineties, Richard. You would know that if you had gone to a COLLEGE rather tha a ‘collage’.
NO MORE HOUSES ON THE ISLE OF WIGHT.
Where your kids gonna live?
With those who casually produced them and were paid for doing so.
Most but the dimmest wouldn’t get a horse and then not be able to afford a field for it, or a stable or food.
Yet people have children knowing that they themselves are charity kept, and then expect the same ‘charity’ to find a home for all their offsping too.
Contraception is free.
And often these same people don’t see any issue with allowing more people into the UK
There will be, even if you wrote it in bold capitals and underlined it.
Poppy, who is three years older than Archie, won’t be manipulated into signing letters her parents wrote I see.