We realise it’s a long time back now, but it’s just possible that some of you might remember the planning application for a six storey building on Ventnor Esplanade being passed by the Isle of Wight Council five years ago.
This was before the days of Conservation Area protection (which now aims protect large parts of Ventnor) and it was also at a time when former planning officer Andrew Pegram (who left IWC last year to work in Nottingham) declared that a six storey building on the fragile Ventnor seafront of one, two and three story buildings was “… a minor application…”
A minor application? A six storey seafront building, blocking views of the terraces could be considered a minor application? Thank goodness Andrew Pegram doesn’t work for IWC anymore.
The site in question is that of Le Veness, which sits in between Riveria and Tides Cafe on the seafront.
Details of the development
The latest planning permission was a re-application (increased by two floors) following permission granted in 1984 for a four storey building on the same footprint.
The development proposes two commercial units at the bottom and nine flats up top.
The re-application was discussed at the DCC meeting (as the planning committee used to be named) on 1 June 2004, but as the minutes are sparse to say the least, it’s not clear how the discussions went.
Decision on the application was deferred pending a site inspection by the DCC and the application was discussed again on 13 July 2004 when approval was given.
Five storeys rejected, but six approved?
What is clear from the minutes of that meeting is that the DCC were offered the option of the building being just five storeys high rather than six, but for reasons unclear from the notes, they felt that avoiding a dog tooth effect was more important than retaining views of the terraces from the beach.
The Ventnor Town Council, although approving the original four storey building, objected to the six storey building but it appears their concerns fell on deaf ears at county level.
Work started
As anyone who has frequented the seafront over the past few years will know, the site has remained derelict for some time.
Planning permission was due to run out on 16th July 2009, but last week workmen were seen on site with a digger.
The alarm was raised on the VB forum and Cllr Lucas (Head of Ventnor TC Plans Committee) has been in contact with the planning department. He confirmed this morning that
The Planning officer tells me that no “formal” start has been made. The activity you saw was sufficient ground clearance to enable trial holes to be dug to give information to submit Clause 2 details These will be assessed by the Council engineer “when” they are submitted. To date, no such info has been received by the IOWC – Approval of the external materials has been given.
So it could be quite a while before a formal and proper start is made. If the ground conditions are not what is expected it would effect the technical drawings which Building Control would then need to approve
We understand that a meeting is being held today amongst local residents to discuss the matter further which we hope to report from.
It’s not surprising that many resident of Ventnor and its visitors are horrified that there’s a chance that this development might go ahead.
Other documentation
Full details of the case and the officer’s recommendations can be found in item 6 of Paper B1.
