Plans for 900 new Isle of Wight homes to go back before council

A decision on the scheme has been delayed by the pandemic

Author: Louise Hill, Local Democracy ReporterPublished 5th Apr 2022
Last updated 5th Apr 2022

Plans for the 900-house Ryde development Pennyfeathers are back before planners after stalling last year.

Revised details have been submitted to the Isle of Wight Council to complete the major scheme, following an application at the end of 2020 which went quiet.

Pennyfeathers was first put forward to the council in 2014 and gained planning permission in 2017 for the principle of development.

The plans on the outskirts of Ryde include:

904 residential units

a school, community centre

commercial buildings

relocation of Westridge Garage

community energy centre

sports building and changing rooms

play areas

highway improvements (introducing a roundabout on Brading Road)

The development has been kept alive through a series of minor applications and an extension from the government permitted to those housing schemes due to expire during the Covid pandemic.

The finer details of the application have been submitted by Hepburns Planning Consultancy and could be one of the final steps before work can get started.

The new plans once again set out the specifications for layout, landscaping, appearance, access and scale for approval, in what would be seven phases of development, with minor changes made.

In planning documents, submitted in 2020, it was envisioned the scheme would take two years to complete.

Explaining the time it took for the application to come forward in 2020, Hepburns said it was the right amount of time for the submission of further details as there is a lot of work to be done.

The 904 residential properties will be split between the open market (587) and affordable housing (317), either ownership or rent.

Hepburns said: “Quite clearly the driving force of this application is to bring forward suitable housing. This housing has to reflect housing need … Since the outline planning permission was granted the pressure to provide new housing has increased.”

To view the plans, 20/02159/ARM, you can visit the council’s planning register. Comments can be submitted until May 4.

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