By Isle of Wight Observer
By Sandy Clarke
A planning application, submitted by the Environment Agency (EA), has reignited a long running and deeply emotional dispute in Bembridge, as the organisation seeks approval to demolish the remaining buildings of Harbour Farm to create habitat for ground-nesting birds.
The derelict farmstead on Embankment Road – once a proud Victorian estate reclaimed from the sea during the Brading Haven drainage project of 1880 – has stood as a fading landmark for decades. For many Islanders, its crumbling silhouette represents not only a lost piece of agricultural heritage, but as a symbol of a bitter conflict between a local family and the state.
Harbour Farm was home to retired British Army colonel, Kenneth Hicks, and his wife, Deidre, whose family had farmed the land for more than a century. In 1998, the Hickses voluntarily sold 420 acres to the RSPB to help establish the Brading Marshes nature reserve. They intended to keep the farmhouse and remaining land for their sons to farm. But in 2013, the EA informed them that water levels would be raised to create new wetland habitats under EU Special Protection Area rules – a move the family said would destroy their ability to farm.
Colonel Hicks later said he felt as though he had a “gun to his head” as legal advice confirmed that conservation law overrode his property rights. Facing a Compulsory Purchase Order, the family sold the estate for around £2 million. Because the land was no longer classed as a working farm at the point of sale, the family then faced a 40 per cent inheritance tax liability.
Since acquiring the site in 2014, the EA has been accused by campaigners of “managed neglect”, with buildings and orchards left to deteriorate. The EA now argues the neglected structures have become unsafe and must be removed to benefit species such as lapwings and brent geese, with the RSPB likely to take over management of the site.
Local campaigners, however, want the publicly-owned site to become a community asset with a bird hide and public access. They also want the orchard, which contains trees which are on the rare apple list, to be preserved and covered by a Tree Protection Order.
Andrew Holman, chairman of the Harbour Farm Nature Group, said: “The EA first applied to demolish the buildings in December, but withdrew because they hadn’t done the ecological and asbestos studies. I’m amazed they’re going ahead now, during nesting season. We still want a nature walk and a bird hide included. We had an agreement to work together on this, but they are not answering my emails and it feels like we’re being cut out of the equation.”
Residents can comment on the application via iw.observer/planning-portal under reference 26/00379/11BPA until April 13.
Mal Butler