Ryde East councillor, Michael Lilley, has a motion tabled at this week’s full council meeting calling for the council to protect working farms from being lost to housing developments.
Cllr Lilley has been a strong opponent to plans for a development of 475 homes on farmland in Ryde – known as West Acre Park.
Opposition to houses on working farmland
The plans have received opposition from hundreds of residents, including the Isle of Wight Conservative MP, Bob Seely, who said,
“I want to reassure Islanders that I will continue to oppose low-density greenfield developments for unnecessary and unwanted housing developments that don’t meet the needs of Islanders.”
Cllr Lilley’s motion
Councillors at this Wednesday’s full council meeting (18th Nov) will be asked to consider the following motion:
This council wishes to recognise the importance of farming including tenant farmers on the Isle of Wight in achieving its climate emergency strategy, preserving and developing the IW UNESCO biosphere principles and status, the importance of local food production, managing environmentally the majority of Island greenfield land, and being a key attraction for tourism on the Isle of Wight.
This council confirms and reaffirms its commitment to support farmers in sustainable farming on the Island and finding ways of protecting working farms and their Greenfields from being lost to housing development.
Seely: “This needs to stop”
Mr Seely recently spoke about his opposition to building on greenbelt land. He said,
“We need to build houses in sustainable locations, and we need to build for Islanders. The Island needs smaller units of low-density housing on brownfield land. We need to build sensitively and in styles which complement the local surroundings.
“We are seeing too many proposals coming forward to shoehorn houses into small parcels of green space disrupting the lives of surrounding residents.
“At the same time, we are also seeing plans to remove vast areas of beautiful greenfield land which separate and define our towns and villages. This needs to stop.
“There are vacant spaces in our high streets and empty buildings that could be utilised to address the needs of Islanders waiting for suitable and affordable accommodation.”
