A group of Isle of Wight architects held an emergency meeting last week, where grave concerns were expressed about the Local Planning Authority’s (LPA) interpretation of the change to planning regulations.
VB Readers will remember that last month the Government amended planning regulations in an effort to put an end to what has been more commonly described as ‘garden grabbing’.
The tighter restrictions on developing on brownfield sites may have been welcome news for some, but those in the construction industry on the Isle of Wight say it could spell disaster.
The Government restrictions come with an option for planners to make decisions at their discretion, however, Bill Murphy, head of IW Planning has taken the decision to apply a blanket ‘in principle’ rejection on all ‘garden grabbing’ developments.
Concerns expressed at meeting
Last week a group of concerned local architects and agents gathered at the Riverside Centre to discuss Bill Murphy’s interpretation of the change to the National Housing Policy.
Those gathered were unhappy with the decision made by the LPA that all developments on sub-divided plots would be rejected in principle, unless the applicant was able to put a good case forward at Committee.
The council claims that the forthcoming developments at Pan Meadows Newport (800+) and Hawthorn Meadows East Cowes cover the “sufficient housing land supply for 2010 to 2016”.
No works for Island firms
Those in the Island construction industry (architects, builders, agents etc) are concerned that as both of these developments being managed by large mainland companies, it’s thought that local trade and professional services as well as those supplying building materials would suffer.
They went on to say that if the implementation of the tighter restrictions goes ahead, “the local construction industry together with allied trades and professions on the Isle of Wight will suffer extreme economic pressure with an approximate £4.6m per annum downturn in turnover resulting in high unemployment and financial hardship”.
In conclusion
In a statement, representatives from the gathering said, “These are unprecedented days when urgent action needs to be taken to redress the misguided, damaging and irresponsible implementation of this policy on the Island to avert economic disaster within the local construction industry, which will have an ongoing effect on the lifeblood of the island economy.”
We’ll keep you informed of any updates when we hear them.
