Isle of Wight council planning officers are recommending refusal for the development of Norris Castle in East Cowes.
Paperwork for next week’s Planning Committee set out the reasons for recommended refusal as:
- Impact of the fabric of the listed buildings, the setting of those building, the character of the area including trees and ground stability
- Viability, and optimum viable use
- Highway consideration
- Ecological considerations
- Socio-economic considerations
Love: Confirms and endorses overwhelming concerns of our community
Councillor Karl Love, who has been a strong opponent to the application told News OnTheWight,
“The report confirms and endorses the overwhelming expressed concerns of our community, supported by substantial evidence of the harms that this development would cause.
“Island Roads and Historic England’s reports reject the planning application, and East Cowes Town Council have also objected in line with the report of Planning Consultant advisor to our council, Martha James.
“I and the Town Council have met with the developers on lots of occasions to try and provide support, and influence the proposal, but little or nothing of our discussions were addressed.
“Councillors are here to represent our community who advise us of their aspirations and concerns and this is what we will continue to do.”
Historic England objection
The application had also recently received a letter of objection from Historic England, with Natural England calling for more information before being able to support the application.
Historic England said,
The Norris estate is of outstanding importance as a particularly beautiful and unusually well-preserved Picturesque ensemble of house, landscape and ancillary buildings. The castle and model farm are listed grade I; the landscape in which they sit is registered grade I. A number of ancillary buildings are listed grade II.
It is in a perilous situation. After many years of neglect castle and farm buildings are no longer wind and weathertight. The applicant’s proposal to convert the estate into a resort would destroy much of what is special about the place. As the scheme is unlikely to be viable it would not secure a sustainable future for the estate, even in a severely mutilated form. No serious attempts have been made to seek a less harmful alternative.
Historic England considers these proposals to be fundamentally at odds with the significance of the ensemble formed by Norris Castle, its farm buildings and its designed landscape. As the proposals would not secure the future of the estate the applicant has not clearly and convincingly justified the harm that the development would cause, nor have they set out demonstrable public benefits that would outweigh that harm as required by the National Planning Policy Framework.
Furthermore, the proposals would cause substantial harm to the grade I registered landscape. Neither of the tests for substantial harm could be met, firstly because the public benefits this scheme promises are not deliverable and, secondly, because none of the alternative four test has been fulfilled.
Planning Committee decision
Members of the Planning Committee will be considering the application on Tuesday 16th April from 4pm. Officers are recommending refusal on the following grounds:
- Substantial harm to Grade I registered park and garden and,
- High degree of harm to two Grade I and three Grade II listed buildings
- Insufficient information on the impact on five Grade II listed
buildings/structures
Full element
Outline element - Contrary to the Shoreline Management Plan
- Impact on the character of the area and the National Landscape
- Impact on Ancient Semi-Natural Woodland
- Impact from light pollution on the National Landscape
- Impact on archaeology
- Impact on protected sites
- Impact of protected species
- Highway safely
- Impact on the SPA
- Flood risk
- Substantial harm to the locally listed park and garden
- Impact on the character of the conservation area
What the application entails
Details of the application can be found on the council’s planning register (21/02438/LBC). The application includes:
Restoration & conversion of:
- Grade I Norris Castle to luxury hotel (C1);
- Grade I Norris Castle Farm, bailiffs house, cottage & walled kitchen garden to spa & wellness centre providing spa residences, treatment rooms, associated retail, restaurant & cafe facilities (sui generis);
- Grade II Pump House to clubhouse (E(f));
- Grade II Cattle Shelters to a resort residence (sui generis), gatehouse & security building (E(g)(i)).
Restoration of Grade I Registered Park & Garden including preservation of the grotto & ponds;
- 4 Grade II stone watering ponds. Construction of: spa residences within walled garden (sui generis);
- two linked buildings to accommodate hotel services, amenities, swimming pool & additional hotel suites (sui generis);
- 4 seawall sentinel buildings containing resort residencies (sui generis);
- resort residences (sui generis), boathouse & slipway at harbourside;
- resort residences within Norris Castle Estate walls (sui generis);
- dwellings in South West Field (C3);
- parking areas, ancillary services, utilities, drainage works, SUDS & substations for resort.
Repair and restoration of Seawall including Grade II elements to stabilise the Norris Castle Estate. Consolidation of Grade II Bathing House ruin & construction of associated restaurant (E(b)).
Demolition of Modern Barn & change of use of existing barn for resort storage.
Creation of resort access road from the Esplanade across Springhill Estate & demolition of section of Norris Castle Estate boundary wall to provide new entrance to resort.
Hard & soft landscaping & all enabling & associated works.
Outline Application: Construction on Springhill Estate of:
- senior living units with associated communal facilities (C2);
- dwellings (C3) including retention & conversion of existing buildings;
- associated drainage, services, utilities & SUDS;
- restoration of landscape;
- resort overflow car park & all enabling & associated works (all matters save for access reserved).
Listed Building Consent for:
- internal and external works to restore and convert the Grade I Norris Castle to a luxury hotel and the construction of two linked buildings to accommodate hotel services, amenities, swimming pool and additional hotel suites;
- internal and external works to restore and convert the Grade I Norris Castle Farm, bailiff’s house, cottage and walled kitchen garden to a spa and wellness centre to include the conversion of existing buildings and structures to spa residences, treatment rooms and associated retail, restaurant and cafe facilities and the construction of further spa residences within the walled kitchen garden;
- internal and external works to restore one Grade II cattle shelter to a gatehouse and security building for the resort;
- internal and external works to restore, extend and convert the second Grade II cattle shelter to a resort residence;
- external works to consolidate and make safe the Grade II Bathing House ruin and the construction of an associated restaurant building;
- the construction of four sentinel buildings on the seawall with resort apartments;
- external repair and restoration works to convert the Grade II Pump House to a clubhouse;
- the restoration of the Grade II listed seawall and repair of the remaining seawall;
- the repair and restoration of the four Grade II stone watering ponds;
- the repair and conservation of the grotto and the restoration of the man-made ponds;
- and the demolition of a section of the Norris Castle Estate boundary wall to allow for a new entrance to the resort.
