At last night’s Ventnor Town Council (VTC) meeting, councillors voted unanimously against the proposal for a new development on the site of the Mill Bay pub in Ventnor.
The planned development of three 3-storey houses, extension to the pub and 5-storey block of flats was met with disdain by the councillors.
Public questions
Public question time kicked off with a detailed statement from Ventnor resident Gillian Jenner.
She started by saying that she welcomed attempts to improve the esplanade and had no problem with businesses making money from their ventures, but felt that approving this application would set a bad precedent for the esplanade.
Ms Jenner questioned why the plans had no scale bar or key dimensions, believing these were mandatory items for planning applications. “How high is the building going to be?” she asked.
Going on to highlight the “unique ribbon terracing of Ventnor”, she felt that tower block would obliterate this view.
Discrepancies in submitted paperwork
Moving onto the documentation, she also pointed out many discrepancies in the paperwork, believing the application only paid lip service to design guidance and suggested that the top flat of the tower block was a penthouse in disguise.
She ended by asking the developer to work with the community to develop something that worked within the conservation area and remained in scale with Ventnor Bay.
Issues with stability
Hambrough Road resident, Beryl Stewart asked why the stability report wasn’t available online and stated that as she lived above the development, she wasn’t aware of any bore hole drilling. She asked the VTC to make this point to the planning department on her behalf.
Another member of the public, Debbie Frost, asked what the properties would be used for (ie. full time or holiday lets) and how big they were going to be.
Once the public question time has finished, the main meeting commenced.
Declarations of interest
Cllr Bonney declared a prejudicial interest as a family member owned the property next to the Mill Bay Pub and left the room. Cllr Welsford declared a personal interest as he was an Isle of Wight County Councillor.
Conservation Area Consent for Demolition
The first application to be considered was the consent for demolishing the extension at the Mill Bay pub.
All councillors agreed that this had no architectural or historical merit and therefore saw no reason to object to the demolition of the extension.
Grave concerns over accuracy of documents
Moving on to the actual planning application to build, Mayor Robinson expressed her grave concerns at the accuracy of the artist’s impression and the reference to the “Interim Design and Development Advice” document in the applicant’s Design and Access Statement.
She stated that the “Interim Design and Development Advice” document dated several years and was a draft document that hadn’t been superseded. She went on to say that having checked with the Local Planning Authority, this was not a valid document and therefore to refer to it, as the Design and Access statement from the applicant did, was worrying.
It was agreed to arrange for copies of the draft document to be made available on the VTC Website in due course.
Mayor Robinson proposed that the VTC comment against the application on the basis of massing, street scene and inadequate information.
Other councillors share their views
Cllr Welsford said that he welcomed development that enhanced the esplanade but would be nervous of accepting any application that was not in keeping.
He felt this was too large a development and was concerned about how it would be looking up from the street. He finished by saying that he didn’t want to be responsible for perpetrating previous problems.
“New doesn’t mean improvement”
Mayor Robinson added that private housing would not help create a vibrant esplanade. She said that the economy depends largely upon tourists and that they would not want to visit Ventnor to look at substandard new builds. She went onto day that “new doesn’t mean improvement”, adding that the esplanade was as delicate as a rare amazonian tree frog and should be treated with sensitivity.
Would not have supported Metropole
Cllr Stubbings spoke next, telling the audience that had he been a councillor when The Metropole application went before the council, he would not have supported it.
He felt that it was important for councilors to be sen to be progressive, but his own personal view was that this development is not sympathetic for the evolution of Ventnor.
Cllr George spoke next saying that he supported Gillian Jenner’s suggestion that the developer work with the community and the council.
He felt it was important that people don’t take black and white sides, asking that people treat the application with caution, politeness and openness. He finished by saying that he’d like to hear more about the development and to see the accuracy issues addressed.
The application then went to a vote and all councillors voted against supporting it.
Discussion about La Veness was postponed as the VTC had not received the necessary documentation from the LPA.
Image: RadioBrain under CC BY 2.0
