Isle of Wight developers Captiva Homes have confirmed today that they have made the decision to close their construction site at West Acre Park and send subcontractors home.
The government has come under mounting pressure recently to ban work on construction sites after ordering non-essential shops and other public places to close, but it is still yet to do so.
Many members of the public have called on the government to order building sites to close and to provide financial help for self-employed people.
Working from home
Captiva Homes had already made the decision to close their Sales Offices and Show Homes on Monday and all their own employees have been working from home in line with government advice over the past couple of weeks.
Captiva Homes owned by Islanders, James Pink and Justin Gentleman, have been building quality developments on the Isle of Wight for almost two decades and have recently opened their Sales Arena and Show Homes off Hope Road in Ryde with great success.
All build activity safely paused
Justin said,
“The government has confirmed that home building sites can continue to operate while implementing social distancing guidance, and we have been working with our contractors to ensure additional measures were in place and many sites continue to operate under this guidance.
“As an Island based company who cares so much about our own community, we have made the decision today for all build activity to be safely paused across our West Acre Park site, in response to the Coronavirus outbreak.”
Pink: A difficult decision, but the right one
James added,
“Due to the overwhelming level of sales interest we have had at West Acre Park, it has been a difficult decision, but it is absolutely the right one.
“We talk so passionately about our beautiful island home, we have boasted a close eye on the essence of the Isle of Wight, our Island based work force and commitment to the local environment, therefore we must put the safety of our employees, our residents and our neighbours first.”
The company has previously stated it is committed to responsible development and sustainability and has been praised for designing West Acre Park as a low density development and commitments such protecting existing trees on the land, affordable homes specifically being built for local residents and a huge investment into the area for local schools and other educational facilities.
News shared by Andrew on behalf of Captiva Homes. Ed
Image: Michael Bader under CC BY 2.0
