ISLANDERS HAVE THEIR SAY ON PLANNING BLUEPRINT
Around 1,800 Islanders took the opportunity to have their say on the Island’s planning blueprint.
The draft Island Planning Strategy sets out the proposed approach towards housing, employment, transport, commercial and leisure land use on the Isle of Wight in the future.
During a 12-week consultation, the Isle of Wight Council received 3,736 comments — of these, around 1,400 related to housing, either the overall housing number or the proposed allocation sites.
Councillor Barry Abraham, the council’s Cabinet member responsible for planning and housing, said: “It is clear there are strong feelings around how we plan for housing on the Island into the future.
“We will need to think carefully how we balance this within the context of national planning policy and relevant legislation.”
The Island Planning Strategy, created in 2018, will replace the ‘Core Strategy’ which has been in place since 2012.
The document reflects the needs of Island people, particularly housing and draws from a whole range of evidence from bodies such the Office for National Statistics.
The consultation responses will now help officers finalise a plan that complies with national requirements and reflects, as far as it possibly can, the views of the Island’s communities.
There will be further opportunities for people to comment on the draft strategy later in the process.
Councillor Abraham added: “We must make sure the plan is current and relevant to the short and long-term future and reflects the needs of people living on the Island.
“It’s important because the plan will be the starting point for assessing the merits of individual planning applications.
“The council will be undertaking further work to understand what the real level of need is, and some of the practical difficulties building new housing that is impacting on rates of delivery.
“In particular, there is further work taking place to ensure we plan for the right housing in the right places on the Island.”
The draft Island Planning Strategy sets out the proposed approach towards housing, employment, transport, commercial and leisure land use on the Isle of Wight in the future.
During a 12-week consultation, the Isle of Wight Council received 3,736 comments — of these, around 1,400 related to housing, either the overall housing number or the proposed allocation sites.
Councillor Barry Abraham, the council’s Cabinet member responsible for planning and housing, said: “It is clear there are strong feelings around how we plan for housing on the Island into the future.
“We will need to think carefully how we balance this within the context of national planning policy and relevant legislation.”
The Island Planning Strategy, created in 2018, will replace the ‘Core Strategy’ which has been in place since 2012.
The document reflects the needs of Island people, particularly housing and draws from a whole range of evidence from bodies such the Office for National Statistics.
The consultation responses will now help officers finalise a plan that complies with national requirements and reflects, as far as it possibly can, the views of the Island’s communities.
There will be further opportunities for people to comment on the draft strategy later in the process.
Councillor Abraham added: “We must make sure the plan is current and relevant to the short and long-term future and reflects the needs of people living on the Island.
“It’s important because the plan will be the starting point for assessing the merits of individual planning applications.
“The council will be undertaking further work to understand what the real level of need is, and some of the practical difficulties building new housing that is impacting on rates of delivery.
“In particular, there is further work taking place to ensure we plan for the right housing in the right places on the Island.”
END
