A FRESH bid to build more houses at Noke Common has been launched.

An appeal has been made to the Planning Inspectorate by Mr A. Button for houses on the site of the former Noke Common Dairy.

Permission was previously granted for six houses on the site while demolishing outbuildings and storage units, which is still Mr Button's 'fallback' position according to planning documents.

But, to maximise the opportunity on the brownfield site, plans were submitted to add three more houses to make a total of nine in a courtyard arrangement.

The Isle of Wight Council's planning authority refused the proposals in May 2020, which led to a revised scheme being submitted in June.

Isle of Wight County Press: The revised plans. Image: Simon Denness Architecture.The revised plans. Image: Simon Denness Architecture.

To address planners' concerns, the layout was shifted so the houses on the eastern side of the development would be in line.

In September, the council refused the application for a second time, saying the three extra houses would make the scheme visually intrusive, impacting on the character and appearance of the area.

Now, both rejections have now been appealed to the Planning Inspectorate, with documents saying the council's planning officer could not fully assess the context of the homes as they needed to enter the site to check measurements instead of judging the proposals from public land.

In a planning statement submitted as part of the appeal, by the agent for the development, Andrew White Planning Consultancy, said Mr Button believed the second application overcame the problems in the first one and did not accept the site would be cramped or overdeveloped.

The statement also said Mr Button believed the additional three units would not result in any 'significant and demonstrable adverse impacts' to the character and appearance of the area that would warrant a refusal.

It was noted the council had no objection to the size, scale and mix of the proposed dwellings or the principle of residential development on the site.

Isle of Wight County Press: The 180 house scheme, as proposed by the Isle of Wight Council. Image: Simon Denness Architecture.The 180 house scheme, as proposed by the Isle of Wight Council. Image: Simon Denness Architecture.

As part of a bigger scheme, the site fell into an area that had been bookmarked for 180 houses in the council's draft Island Planning Strategy in 2018.

The Planning Inspectorate will rule on the appeal.