We’ve been contacted by a number of people asking for our opinion of a newly constructed holiday home in Steephill Cove.
You might’ve noticed it when looking along the coastline from Ventnor towards Steephill.
It looks like a rather squat lighthouse, clad in white shutterboard and is noticeable from Ventnor as you look down the coastline to the West.
We’ll be honest, our response has been pretty much either “We don’t really have a view on it” or “It’s not something that concerns us”, however, it seems that many of our readers felt differently, so we’re putting up this post for comments.
We called Mark Wheeler, the owner, for a chat about the building, “It’s a bit unusual, but it’s in keeping with its marine setting.
“It’s highly possible that a ‘normal’ building that might not have got planning permission.”
“We tried to make it look like a lighthouse, but obviously lower than they usually are.”
On the point of its popularity or otherwise, Mark tells us that “hundreds of people have been stopping to tell us how much they like it.”
Background
Permission for the application to build the holiday home and replace the nine beach huts was granted permission back in September 2005. It hadn’t come to our attention at the time and one of the people who contacted us told us that one Town Councillor cannot remember it being passed before the TC Plans Committee, but we find hard to imagine that’d be the case.
Public comments to the application are not available online on the IW council planning site, but are only accessible in person at the Seaclose Offices, so if you want to see what others thought of the plans, you’ll have to make a trip to Newport.
It has been some time since the build was completed, so views may’ve changed from when it was first constructed.
The application details and plans can be viewed however, on the Isle of Wight Council Planning Web site.
What do you think? Do you Like it or Loath it? Feel free to comment, but please avoid making any claims that cannot be backed up or that are over-personal.
