The Isle of Wight Council, in association with Spectrum Housing Group, has submitted a planning application for over 800 new homes to be built in Newport. 

Dawn Cousins, Isle of Wight Council cabinet member with responsibility for housing, said:

“Making this planning application ourselves clearly demonstrates the council’s commitment to the Pan Development and our determination to deliver a scheme that is so important to both our housing and Eco Island aims. It will also provide a very significant boost to the Island’s economy bringing in massive inward investment and employment opportunities.”

Supported by WYG Planning & Design as lead planning consultants, the Council, as landowner, has taken the step of applying for planning permission to combat the downturn in the housing marketing.  It is hoped to achieve planning permission and to secure a purchaser for the site before commencing development next spring.

The moves follow the decision by Miller Homes to withdraw from the scheme at this time, because of the impact of the current economic climate.

In addition to taking over responsibility for obtaining planning permission, the council and Spectrum Housing are in talks with the Homes and Communities Agency and have a bid for a further £11 million grant money.  This would help provide infrastructure including a new spine road to open up the development site making it more attractive – and economical – for a developer to step in and build the homes in accordance with the planning permission.

This new grant money would be on top of a similar amount already committed to the scheme by the HCA provided work starts by the end of the financial year.   Read more here:  Kick Start For Pan Homes

Environmentally-friendly and groundbreaking ecologically, the scheme will deliver on the Eco Island agenda by creating one of the largest all-tenure housing schemes to achieve a minimum of Level 4 of the Code for Sustainable Homes.

Central to this is the use of a wood-burning biomass centre, which will supply heat and hot water to all the homes within the scheme, with the possibility of extending energy provision to existing homes on the adjacent Pan estate through retrofitting, as well as to a future adjacent employment area. 

The biomass centre will be combined with a visitor centre for a new 10 hectare country park, which will provide recreational facilities for residents and replacement habitat for protected species such as dormice that may be displaced by the development.

Peter Hopkins, lead Regeneration Manager of the Isle of Wight Council, said:

“This is one of the largest urban development projects the Island has undertaken and the Council, by taking a proactive development lead through the current housing downturn, has been able to utilise its own landholdings to stimulate the island economy, whilst delivering much needed affordable homes for local residents and designating over a third of the site to deliver increased countryside recreational access through the creation of a new country park.”

Jeremy Heppell, Associate Director, WYG Planning & Design said:

“The scheme is crucial to the Isle of Wight Council’s housing supply over the next 20 years.  The development will include 254 affordable units, subsidised by a grant of over £11 million from the Homes & Communities Agency. The Council hopes to secure additional government grant in the second round of Kickstart funding next year.”

WYG Planning & Design has carried out a full environmental impact assessment, as well as a detailed ecological assessment, and worked alongside Fairthorn Farrell Timms Employers Agents, HGP Architects, Odyssey Consulting Engineers, ACD Landscape and MCA Consulting Engineers.