Residents have won a fight to stop housing being built on greenfield land within an historic Isle of Wight hamlet after plans were thrown out by the planning committee Tuesday night (13th January 2026).
Five county councillors voted against Redmer Developments’ revised outline proposal for up to ten houses next to Wellow’s Main Road, which last week saw a roadside demonstration against the plans.
Refusal sealed with casting vote
Another five were in favour of the application, but a refusal was sealed with a casting vote from Conservative planning committee chair Warren Drew.
The panel went against a planners’ recommendation for conditional approval, subject to conditions and a completed Section 106 Agreement, with provisions such as 35 per cent affordable housing and a £15,000 contribution towards rights of way infrastructure.
“An unsustainable form of development”
After a debate, reasons to reject the application were set out by Russell Chick, planning development manager at the Isle of Wight Council.
He said,
“The proposed development would result in ten additional houses situated outside of a settlement boundary, away from services and facilities which would result in an unsustainable form of development reliant on access by private car.
“The proposed dwellings and associated access and parking turning areas would be detrimental to the rural character of the area by reason of the physical and visual impact they would cause and would therefore conflict with the intention of the local planning authority to protect the character of the area.”
The vote
Councillors who voted for refusal:
- Paul Fuller, Cowes West and Gurnard, Alliance
- Becca Cameron, Freshwater South, Empowering Islanders
- Michael Lilley, Ryde Appley and Elmfield, Liberal Democrats
- Claire Critchison, Chale, Niton and Shorwell, Green Party and Alliance
- Warren Drew, Ryde South East, Conservatives
Councillors who voted against refusal:
- Ian Ward, Sandown South, Conservatives
- Bill Nigh, Lake North, Reform UK
- Martin Oliver, Mountjoy and Shide, Conservatives
- Matthew Price, Fairlee and Whippingham, Conservatives
- Debbie Andre, Sandown North, Alliance
Fuller: Damage to local landscape
Councillor Paul Fuller said,
“This is right in the middle of our countryside, it is a special part of the Island, it has nothing within the proposal that to me helps to mitigate against the damage that it will have on the local landscape.”
Lilley: Concern over footways
Councillor Michael Lilley seconded Councillor Fuller’s proposal to object and told the council chamber,
“My particular thing is the pavement and the roadway. Nothing that is proposed for me will make that road safe.
Cameron: Not sustainable
Councillor Becca Cameron said,
“I can’t consider this is generally sustainable housing. The report accepts it’s not walkable to services and relies on an hourly bus.”
Ward: People already live there sustainably
Backing the application, Councillor Ian Ward said,
“I’d like to question this assumption of unsustainability.
“We have people who live there now, probably lived there for generations, their children go to school, they go to work etc.”
Long: The objectors’ houses are not a construct of God’s own creation
David Long spoke on behalf of the applicant earlier in the evening,
“A vote negative to this application is a direct strike against a plan that you’ve already voted for.
“Where on earth, if we don’t have a site that’s probably inarguably in the centre of Wellow, which is a sustainable rural settlement, where on earth does development then go in Island Planning Strategy terms?
“I also appreciate that the objectors say the site isn’t sustainable, you don’t need more growth – but I’m also conscious the objectors’ houses are not a construct of God’s own creation.
“They’re a construct of building on some land over a period of time – this is just Wellow’s next succession of change.”
Hill: Entirely out of keeping with Wellow
Councillor Jonathan Hill represented Shalfleet Parish Council which objected to the proposal,
“The design and scale of this development is totally inappropriate. It’s an estate, suburban in form, urban in feel – entirely out of keeping with Wellow.”
This article is from the BBC’s LDRS (Local Democracy Reporter Service) scheme, which News OnTheWight is taking part in. Some alterations and additions may have been made by OnTheWight. Ed
