A3055 provokes confrontation with Isle of Wight Council

Press Release: April 26^th, 2005

Residents in the South of the Isle of Wight concerned at the severe impact of the proposed A3055 realignment and drainage scheme* for Undercliffe Drive between St Lawrence and Niton say they are now prepared to take their fight to the High Court with a Judicial Review if needs be.

Meanwhile, several landowners continue to be strongly opposed to the scheme because of its impact on the area and on property. It is now widely expected that the Isle of Wight Council will be obliged to take the matter to compulsory purchase, and landowners are preparing to argue their cases at inquiry.

The Undercliff Defence Committee deeply regrets that this ill-conceived scheme has forced concerned residents with legitimate grievances into a conflict with their elected representatives and planners on the Isle of Wight Council, having been rebuffed in their efforts to resolve issues of concern with Isle of Wight Council through a more open discussion before it was approved on February 15^th. Even so, the committee stresses that it continues to hope this can be avoided.

The Undercliff is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Site of Special Scientific Interest, a Heritage Coast, and a Site of Interest to Nature Conservation, adjoining the South Wight Marine Special Area of Conservation, a designation of European importance. Its character depends on the habitats and scenery that develop from continuing landslips, its extensive woodland, cliffs, changing slopes, and the many protected species that have made this dramatic landscape their home. The proposed realignment and drainage scheme would clear or dry out much of the luxuriant woodland habitat, disturb wildlife, damage the famous cliffs, and threaten the marine Special Area of Conservation, even with mitigation measures which would lead to further loss of woodland habitat.

The permanent lowering of the water table would also threaten the St Lawrence spring, a major water source for Ventnor, and could lead to serious settlement problems for buildings in western Ventnor and the Undercliff as dried out subsoil begins to shrink. There are also serious concerns that costs will escalate from GBP13.1m to GBP26m or even GBP40m once work commences (see UDC Press Release 8-03-05), increasing pressure for even more damaging sea defences to protect this investment, and that much of the burden for both cost overruns and high maintenance costs would fall on local Council Tax payers.

The residents have been advised by expert legal opinion that there are strong grounds for a Judicial Review, and have been confirmed in their belief that several aspects of the approval and consultation process may have been seriously flawed, the committee said this week.

The residents' committee remains concerned about the application, not least its failure to properly consider alternatives, damage to the protected unique landscape and ecology of the Undercliff, threat to water sources, potential settlement issues for buildings, and procedural irregularities arising from the consultation (failure to count all objections, misrepresentation of Niton and Whitwell Parish Council’s position, among other issues).

The committee is also deeply concerned at the arrogant way in which the Council has repeatedly refused requests for clarification on concerns of residents on the impact of the application and on procedural irregularities, having so far failed to make available the text of legal agreements with statutory bodies signed on our behalf. These are supposedly intended to prevent excessive abstraction of water from boreholes and protect threatened species, among other issues. These agreements must be concluded before the project money is released, and their content is of obvious concern to residents.   

Note to Editors: The Undercliff Defence Committee was formed in early 2005 by residents of the Undercliff, Niton, St Lawrence and Ventnor to protect landscape, nature and water resources of the Undercliff, and to protect properties from loss of amenity, excessive traffic noise and settlement damage through drainage. It believes in a sustainable approach to transport recognising both the instability of the area and its environmental sensitivity, and advocates continual reinstatement of the existing road with traffic restrictions for as long as practicable given rapid cliff recession, backed up by use of the Whitwell Road

Undercliff Defence Committee: John Nash: 01983 856688: Barbara Wright: 01983 730455

*Planning Application for Stabilisation and Realignment of A3055 between St Lawrence and Niton, Isle of Wight (TCP/26467/A - P/01467/04 & TCP/26467/ - P/01465/04)

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