We’ve reported many times on the saga of the Le (La) Veness development on Ventnor seafront.
The last news we had was that the estate of the late owner of the site had appealed to the Planning Inspectorate against a decision by the Local Planning Authority (LPA) declaring expiration of the consent.
At the time we didn’t know whether the Isle of Wight council (IWC) would fight the appeal.
The LPA have now confirmed to VB that they do intend to contest the appeal lodged with the Planning Inspectorate and members of the public have until 23rd June (next Wednesday) to submit their comments to the Planning Inspectorate.
Background
Back in 2004, planning permission was granted back for a six-storey building on the sit which has been derelict for many years.
This was before the conservation area was instigated and against much public objection.
Last year, just weeks before the permission lapsed, work started on the site.
However, work was not supposed to start until a satisfactory geo-technical method statement (condition 2 of the planning consent) had been signed off by the LPA.
Survey submitted one day before consent lapsed
Despite having the planning permission for nearly five years, the developer only presented their geo-technical survey one day before the consent lapsed.
In what some might consider to be an arrogant move, the developer expected the LPA to consider the survey immediately (something that usually takes between 8-13 weeks).
Obviously this didn’t happen straight away, but after consulting engineers, building control, planners and their legal department, the LPA (on 16 October 2009) decided that the geo-technical statement was inadequate, didn’t meet the requirements of condition 2 of the planning permission and therefore the planning consent had lapsed.
The developer contests this and has take it to appeal.
Public Inquiry
We understand that there is an inquiry taking place at County Hall from 10am on 4th August, which is expected to take two days.
We hope to cover the discussions and outcome, so make sure you keep an eye on VB if you want updates.
If you want to learn more about the complexities of the case, there’s a great posting on the VB discussion forum by the Campaign for Protection of Rural England.
Image: freddyfromutah under CC BY 2.0
