A group of around 20 members of the public stood opposite Hazelhurst in Freshwater this morning, peacefully donning placards as the Planning Ombudsman carried out a site visit.
Owners of the property, Mr and Mrs Knight claimed that they knew nothing of the visit and only realised something was up when Mr Knight noticed a group of people assembling on the other side of the road.
Not long afterwards, the Ombudsman turned up with a member of the Planning Department and they stood chatting with the owners whilst waiting for a representative from the architects office to turn up.
Unfortunately, he didn’t turn up until nearly an hour later, but luckily made it in time to go through the plans with the Ombudsman.
We strolled amongst those protesting and asked what was the message they wanted to send to the Ombudsman and will be publishing a number of vox pops over the next couple of days on VentnorBlog.
We also spoke with the owners of the property who gave their views on the protests and proposed development.
