Developers not building houses when they have been given the green light to do so, needs to be dealt with says the Conservative group leader at County Hall.
Holding onto land, potentially with the view to sell it on once development has been given permission, is an issue the Island faces that is unfair on local authorities, said Cllr Steve Hastings.
Permission granted in 2017
Using the Pennyfeathers development as an example, Cllr Hastings said the 900-home scheme in Ryde, which got permission in 2017, is still yet to put a brick into place.
An application was submitted to approve further details of the scheme earlier this year.
He said,
“The government says we should be giving permission and looking to develop.
“Well, we gave permission and nothing yet, so it does not count towards the number of homes built.
“We should be able to say after x amount of time we can take planning permission back. Why are they allowed to keep it? I think it is ludicrous.”
Hastings: We still have to produce homes, but in the right places
Talking about the latest draft of the Island Planning Strategy, currently being consulted on, Cllr Hastings said the Island effectively has no plan, no five-year land supply, and suffers from the presumption in favour of sustainable development.
He said,
“We have a beautiful Island that tourists love and we do not want to ruin it.
“But we also have families who have lived here for generations and their children now need a home, but they cannot afford it in the area they grew up in.
“We somehow have got to put together affordable homes and jobs on the Island.
“We still have to produce homes, but in the right places.”
Riverside Quarter
Earlier in the year the Riverside Quarter, which could have seen patches of Newport including County Hall, the police and fire stations made into housing, was mooted by the outgoing Tory administration.
Cllr Hastings said the Riverside Quarter was the kind of project Homes England would back as the infrastructure was already around it and it would protect greenfield land.
He said,
“We do things the wrong way round, we look at development because we are under pressure to build homes, but have we got the infrastructure that goes with it? It has to come first.”
Cllr Hastings said when infrastructure is added after development it is sometimes not fit for purpose and causes more issues.
Tribute to former councillor
Cllr Hastings also paid tribute to his former colleague Barry Abraham, the previous cabinet lead for housing and planning, who lost his seat in the May elections, but helped bring the majority of the plan forward.
He said,
“Barry, and officers, put a lot of work and effort into this. We started from a position of silly numbers that shocked people and to get those numbers down is what has taken that time.
“We cannot just say we do not like those figures and we don’t want to do it, you have to have evidence and reasons why as those numbers are not sensible.”
Task and finish group
In October, the corporate scrutiny committee’s IPS task and finish group will report back to the committee, after having looked at certain issues including the special circumstances of building on an island.
He said,
“The main thing is we cannot keep going without a five-year land supply.
“We need to make sure we have the right things in there, it will still pass inspector scrutiny and is in line with the national policy framework.”
This article is from the BBC’s LDRS (Local Democracy Reporter Service) scheme, which News OnTheWight is part of. Read here to find about more about how that scheme works on the Island. Some alterations and additions may have been made by News OnTheWight. Ed
