Residents in Birch Close, Colwell were on high alert this morning after a digger and portable loos arrived on the site to the east of the road, where permission has been granted for 44 new dwellings.
Talluah Estates received planning permission back in November 2021 for the development, but a number of conditions were attached to the permission, including no development to take place until a Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) has been secured for double yellow lines on the southern side of Birch Close.
Double yellow lines refused
However, last month the Isle of Wight council cabinet refused the TRO application for double yellow lines, leaving the future of the application in the balance.
When workmen, a digger and portable loos arrived on the site this morning, residents were concerned that work was starting ahead of conditions being satisfied.
Pre-commencement archaeological trenches
News OnTheWight got in touch with the council to find out what was happening.
A spokesperson for the Isle of Wight council confirmed the situation. They explained,
“Following calls this morning, officers visited Birch Close and met with the developer. There is a digger at the site and this is being used to dig the pre-commencement archaeological trenches required by condition 22 of the planning consent.
“The trenching is being undertaken in agreement with the Council’s Archaeology Officer.
“There will be ten trenches measuring 33m x 1.5m across the site, which the Council’s Archaeology Officer will inspect over the next two days, to view any findings. The trenches will be backfilled this week.”
IWC: No actual commencement of the planning consent can take place
To allay any residents’ fears that work has started before conditions are met, the IWC spokesperson added,
“Following our discussions today, the developer is well aware that other than informative surveys such as those being carried out this week, no actual commencement of the planning consent can take place.”
Condition 22
For those interested, condition 22 reads:
No development shall take place until the results of a pre-commencement archaeological trial trench evaluation have been submitted.
The evaluation will be carried out in accordance with a Written Scheme of Investigation which has been agreed in writing by the County Archaeology and Historic Environment Service and approved by the planning authority.
Reason: To mitigate the effect of the works associated with the development upon any heritage assets and to ensure that information regarding these heritage assets is preserved by record in accordance with Policy DM11 of the Isle of Wight Council Island Plan Core Strategy
A list of all the conditions can be found in the the decision notice, embedded below for your convenience.
Article edit
12.47pm 16th Nov 2022 – Portaloo changed to portable loo
