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This from Cllr Joe Robertson, leader of the Isle of Wight Conservative councillors. Ed
I will be voting to send the draft Island Planning Strategy back to the Isle of Wight Council’s Cabinet for reconsideration today (Wednesday).
In my view, it is based on population figures we know are inflated and incorrect and there are hidden dangers for overdevelopment of greenfield sites. The process and timing of the meeting is also unfair to absent members.
479 homes every year for 15 years
The current draft Plan proposes building 479 homes on the Island every single year for the next fifteen years. This represents a significant increase on the numbers of homes we have built in the last decade.
There is no evidence that there is a genuine need for such a dramatic step-up in housing developments.
Target based on 2014 household projected numbers
The 479 figure is based on 2014 household projected numbers which were shown by the 2021 Census to be incorrect and over inflated.
It is not responsible for Councillors to vote for a Plan based on figures we know to be incorrect in order to deliver excessive housebuilding which will benefit developers and property investors.
Been in “tilted balance” for some time
It has been argued that while the Island remains in the “tilted balance” without the protection of a new Plan the Island will be vulnerable to building more homes.
But the Island has been in the “tilted-balance” for some time already and fewer homes have been built than the draft Plan provides for in the future. Those arguments are unfounded based on what we know already.
The housing shortage
It has also been argued that there is a housing shortage which the Plan will address. I agree that there is a shortage of certain types of homes – affordable homes for Island people, particularly affordable rental accommodation.
The Island has been building a sufficient number of homes, but the wrong type. That is why back in February, Conservative Councillors secured £40 million of borrowing for the Council to build affordable homes.
None of £40m drawn down
However, the Council’s housing company set up to deliver the homes we need remains inactive and the Green/Independant Alliance have failed to draw down or spend a single penny of the £40 million allocated almost nine months ago.
The Council is failing to use the funding and powers it already has in order to deliver affordable homes for Islanders.
Excessive building on greenfield land
In my view, the current draft Plan also provides for excessive building on greenfield land in our towns and villages.
The Council’s Planning Officers provided an amendment to remove over 300 allocated homes in green fields but the Alliance Cabinet rejected it.
Camp Hill
Furthermore, I spoke to the Government Minister for Prisons earlier this week and there are no guarantees that any part of the Camp Hill site will be released by the Government for housing yet it has been designated in the Plan as a “key priority site” for hundreds of new homes.
If the site is not released for housing then there will be even greater pressure to bring forward greenfield sites in our towns and villages and squeeze in as much housing to deliver an unrealistic housing target.
Complications of brownfield sites
I am concerned that other designated brownfield sites have complications attached that may mean they are also never realised.
This is a real hidden danger in the Plan: greenfield sites may be brought forward in place of brownfield land we know may never become available.
The “extraordinary” meeting
Irrespective of the debate around the contents of the draft Plan, there is one powerful overriding reason not to vote it through today.
The “extraordinary” meeting date was chosen at short notice by the Chair of the Council. She knows that two Councillors with a differing view to her own are unable to attend, debate and vote because they are medically unfit.
A grotesque perversion of the democratic process
It is a grotesque perversion of the democratic process to use the misfortune of two democratically elected Councillors to push through a Plan that does not have a democratic mandate.
Decent, fair-minded Councillors should send the Plan back to be considered at a future date, regardless of their views about it. Common decency must prevail.
