After seven years in the making, and costing the IW Council £660,000, the authority’s ‘planning bible’ has been delayed again, with fears it could run out of time.

The draft Island Planning Strategy (DIPS) was back before members on Wednesday, where cabinet member Cllr Paul Fuller was seeking approval to send it out for one last public consultation before it would go to the government’s Planning Inspectorate for consideration.

The DIPS would set the Island’s housing targets, trying for more affordable housing discounts and update planning policies.

However, there were still some concerns, with Cllr Peter Spink calling for it to be returned to cabinet for them to reconsider various issues.

The issues include decisions around potential development sites allocated in the plan, ‘windfall sites’, and how local need is identified.

After a short break, Cllr Fuller agreed to Cllr Spink’s amendments, with 23 councillors in favour of the move, nine against and three abstentions.

While he accepted the change, Cllr Fuller warned if they were going to delay the DIPS further than the ‘very short period’ he could afford, the council was “in danger of running out of time.” The DIPS will now return no later than the end of April to full council, either with the relevant changes made or an explanation from cabinet as to why not.

Cllr Julie Jones-Evans called the situation ‘a game of whack-a-mole’, with more issues arising despite trying to move on with the plan. She said the council could not afford to run out of time and start over again, and that the move was ‘really poor’ and not showing a responsible attitude.

Cllr Debbie Andre said the plan had been delayed long enough.