Plans have been unveiled for 130 homes on Camp Road, in Freshwater — eight years after a previous attempt for eight homes was rejected.
Developers have gone back to the drawing board and brought forward a new scheme that they hope will address the housing shortage on the Island.
New plans for 130 homes
Previously plans for eight dwellings in 2013 were refused by the Isle of Wight Council, and later by the Planning Inspectorate, due to insufficient information in planning documents and the piecemeal development approach proposed.
Developers then approached the council in 2019 for pre-application advice proposing 170 homes.
Although planning officers were in support of the 170-home scheme, they suggested decreasing the numbers and altering the layout.
The agricultural land is now allocated for at least 90 homes in the council’s Draft Island Planning Strategy.
Outline plans only
The outline application, however, is for 130 homes.
All detailed matters relating to the final scale, appearance, layout, access and landscaping of the site will be determined through later revised-matter applications.
However, the housing split has been detailed, with 35 per cent of the 130 homes (46) to be affordable.
The remaining 84 will be market housing and although the final mix will be determined at a later date, the site will feature one and two-bed flats and two, three, and four-bed houses.
Planning agent Andrew White Planning Consultancy, said the figures were in line with the housing need for the area as set out in the 2018 needs assessment.
Housing growth in the village expected
In documents submitted in favour of the application, the agents say housing growth is expected and the scheme would carefully balance the objectives of sustaining Freshwater as a thriving village, while not overwhelming it.
Vehicles would leave the site on Camp Road with a pedestrian access point linking it to Victoria Road, where bus stops and the village centre could be reached.
Have your say
You can view the application, 21/01552/OUT, via the Isle of Wight Council’s planning portal.
Comments can be made until 24th September.
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
