There were mixed reactions to plans to build 70 houses in Shalfleet when they were presented to the parish council on Wednesday night.
The proposed development, comprising of two, three and four bed-houses, would be built on land behind the recently completed Burt Close.
Jacobs: Looking to create a legacy
Presenting the latest phase of development to Shalfleet Parish Council, Simon Jacobs, explained the site had been in his family for nearly 30 years, after his parents bought Shalfleet Manor.
He said,
“We are looking to create a legacy so that longstanding Shalfleet families, their children and grandchildren, can continue to live, work and bring up their families in Shalfleet.”
24 affordable homes
Talking through the scheme, planning agent Andrew Neale, said the development could see 70 predominantly semi-detached properties, 46 for open market and 24 affordable, built.
The affordable houses would be broken down into 16 rented and eight shared-ownership houses.
Spink: No really “providing homes for local people”
Isle of Wight Cllr Peter Spink, for Freshwater North and Yarmouth, argued despite what developers said, most houses would not be for the benefit of local people as they would not be able to afford the open market properties.
He said,
“If you are going to be selling the vast majority of these houses on the open market, with no control over whether they go to Islanders, it is not really as you said – providing homes for local people.
“It is providing a small number of the total proportion for local people.”
Mr Jacobs said “it will become clear” that the type of properties they will be building will go to local people as they are not ‘luxury homes’ – potentially costing £200,000 to 300,000, not over half a million.
Parish councillors cautious
Councillors were also cautious about whether the houses would actually go to local families. Demand for Burt Close meant that while the properties could have been sold four times over, many local families missed out — including members of the Burt family, who the close was named after.
Cllr Steve Cowley said the parish council would welcome a discussion about the way the houses are allocated, due to the unhappiness of the way the Burt Close houses were allocated, which for some made it ‘impossible’.
Jacobs: Out of our hands
Mr Jacobs said while the allocation of the first lot of houses ‘was taken out of their hands completely’, having sold the development to Sovereign, there are all sorts of directions they could look at to ensure these houses, particularly the affordable ones, are lived in by locals.
One option put forward was a potential community housing project.
The application is not ‘set in stone’ and the development team said they would take the feedback from the parish council into consideration.
A public meeting is going to be held next month, 22nd June at Shalfleet Village Hall, by the developers with more detailed plans.
This article is from the BBC’s LDRS (Local Democracy Reporter Service) scheme, which News OnTheWight is part of. Read here to find about more about how that scheme works on the Island. Some alterations and additions may have been made by News OnTheWight. Ed
