By Isle of Wight Observer
Despite a protest by more than 200 people last week, the IW Council has approved plans for 130 new homes on a greenfield site in Bembridge.
Councillors voted to approve the plans by five votes to three, on the planning committee on Tuesday night, giving the green light to Captiva Homes for the Middleton development on land at the corner of Mill Road and the High Street.
Members of the committee discussed whether an ongoing Judicial Review into the Westridge development, in Ryde, was relevant, and should delay the discussions, but the chairman, Cllr Warren Drew, said that, having taken legal advice, they should get on and make the decision.
Officers had recommended approval of the plans subject to a number of conditions, although they admitted it raised “difficult policy issues”.
The developer, James Pink, said that he had initially turned down the opportunity “in the village that I love”. He told how one of his youngest employees, Emily, in her 20s, who dreamt of raising a family in the village she had lived in her whole life, had persuaded him to reconsider.
Martin Woodward, who led the protest against the homes last week, said: “Eight hundred people wrote in against the building and they were ignored; 300 people protested against the development and we were ignored.
“Unfortunately, the planning committee just rubber-stamped it to go through.
“We don’t agree with the decision and we’re not going to give up – there is the possibility of a Judicial Review.
“There is no such thing as ‘affordable’ housing in Bembridge, as Island people on Island wages won’t be able to afford one of these properties.”
