A planning application has been submitted by Captiva Homes for 203 houses and flats on the Acorn Farm site at Horsebridge Hill.

The plans and their many supporting documents are on the council’s planning register webpages.

The council’s planning public consultation is under way with a deadline of 3 November 2023. Please note that this is a change on the original date of 20 October 2023. There is also helpful advice on making effective comments.

The developer, Captiva Homes, has also set up a web page about their application.

This describes the plans as providing:

• 72 one-bed Key Worker Accommodation flats
• 131 ‘open market homes’ which will be converted to affordable in partnership with Sovereign Housing as a mix of socially rented and discounted market sale homes

The plans also include a play area, and pedestrian and cycling links connecting the site and Horsebridge Hill to Dodnor Lane.

If this application is approved then this could help many Islanders get a home that they can afford to rent or buy.

I am particularly concerned, however, at Island Roads’ comments on the lack of information regarding the impact on local road junctions and on the highways network generally.

It’s vital that there is this information as Horsebridge Hill is on the main route between Newport and Cowes with a high volume of traffic for most of the day.