Medina
Valley Area Action Plan.
I wish to make the following comments with
respect to the Medina Valley Area Action Plan, as Ward Councillor for Cowes
West and Gurnard.
Settlement
Boundaries.
Following discussion with local residents,
Gurnard Parish Council and Gurnard Neighbourhood Plans Steering Committee,
there is support from the Community to remove the settlement boundary from
Gurnard.
In recent times the principle of permitting
sustainable development ‘immediately adjacent’ to the settlement boundary has
meant that applications have been allowed in the primary area where local
residents have been eager to protect (The Jordan Valley). By removing this principle, would assist the community
through the GNPSC giving greater opportunity to identify sites for a larger
quota of small scale developments on a variety of sites throughout the village,
rather than focusing on a small quota of large scale developments. This principle complies with Gurnard’s
Housing Needs Survey (2014).
Green
Gaps.
Both Cowes and Gurnard residents have
highlighted the importance of safeguarding and protecting the green gap which
separates both communities within the Jordan
Valley. For locational purposes, I
am formally requesting that land bounded by Woodvale Drive, Baring Road, Place
Road, Cockleton Lane, Hilton Road, Worsley Road and Worsley Lane and Solent
Lawns is given due recognition as a formal Green Gap, in order to protect
settlement coalescence between Cowes and Gurnard.
This request can be recognised and evidenced
within the consultative process for Gurnard’s Neighbourhood Plan, through
consultations for recent planning applications (i.e Place Road, 44 Worsley
Road, Dottens Farm) and from feedback on the determination of SHLAA sites.
There are further green spaces within Cowes
West and Gurnard which I request are given protected status. Therefore I ask
these include the following locations:
·
Dormers Copse and Land south of Princes
Esplanade, Gurnard and Egypt Esplanade, Cowes.
·
The Luck Valley bounded by Pallance Road,
Cockleton Lane, Marsh Road and Rew Street, Gurnard.
Other areas,
I will be requesting to be safeguarded in Cowes West include:
·
Cowes Golf Club, Crossfield Avenue Cowes.
·
Westwood Park, Reynolds Close, Cowes.
·
Sports Field, Isle of Wight Community Club,
Park Road, Cowes.
·
The Green, Crossfield Avenue, Cowes.
·
Mornington Wood and Mornington Green,
Mornington Road, Cowes.
·
Land adjacent and north of Blackberry Lane,
Cowes.
·
Grass Verges and open space within and
opposite Magdalen Crescent, Crossfield Avenue, Cowes.
·
Land west of Churchill Road, Cowes.
Employment Land.
As local
Councillor, I wholeheartedly support the principle of providing opportunities which
allow local businesses to grow and provide quality jobs for our local workforce
in Cowes.
Therefore, I
fully support the retention of land at BAE Systems, Newport Road, Cowes to be
zoned for Employment purposes.
In addition,
fully understanding the need to retain deep water, and water frontage for
employment use at Medina Yard, I support this being of primary importance when
considering the regeneration of the Medina Estuary.
Further to
my comments in respect to the Discussion Document as consulted upon previously,
I reiterate my support for the Medina Estuary to be designated as a Local
Enterprise Zone.
Housing.
Following
feedback from local residents, I have been asked to flag up the need for a
greater proportion of low cost and affordable accommodation to be allocated
within the Cowes West and Gurnard Ward.
A number of
residents have highlighted to me, that owing to the popularity and desireability
of Cowes and Gurnard it is difficult to find housing or to downsize.
Because of
this, I suggest the importance of investigating a greater proportion of 1 and 2
bedroomed properties are considered by developers to enable greater flexibility
within the affordable housing market within my ward.
Yours,
Councillor Paul Fuller,
Isle of Wight Councillor for Cowes West and
Gurnard.
18th December 2015.
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