Supporters of Ryde ice rink had their fight against owners of the Ryde Arena, AEW, raised in Parliament yesterday when Isle of Wight MP, Bob Seely, mentioned hit out during a speech about the new planning bill.
Just over a minute into his speech, he explains the situation with Ryde Arena – now sat empty for years – and whilst being protected by parliamentary privilege, referred to leaseholders AEW in very strong terms.
Accusations of intimidation
Seely argued that under the current planning system,
“We can fight these dreadful arrogant people in the hope that they will eventually give up, get fed up when they don’t get change of use and go forth and multiply.”
He went on to say that under the new planning system communities like Ryde will no longer have a voice.
Seely: Second home bad for our community and dreadful for our visitor economy
Seely was interrupted by a fellow Conservative MP who asked what realistic prospects are there for young people to buy their own home on the Island.
Seely replied,
“There isn’t enough, we badly need affordable developments on the Island and that’s what I want to see.
“What we don’t need is the speculative low density greenfield development which is not built for Islanders, which is built for second-home owners and which is bad for our community and dreadful for our visitor economy.”
You can watch the full speech below.
Image: © Parliament TV
