Councillor Peter Spink

Annual Report 2022

Councillor Peter Spink  –  Freshwater North and Yarmouth Ward

I stood for election in May ‘21 because I was concerned by the amount and type of housing proposed for the Island. I felt that we were not building houses for Islanders in need, at prices that they could afford; we in the West Wight we were losing our precious countryside with little benefit to the local community. In particular I was appalled by the proposal for a minimum of 1,000 houses in a so called garden village which would have stretched from Wellow most of the way to Yarmouth. I am pleased to say that this particular development has been withdrawn.

My principal election pledge was to oppose inappropriate development, particularly on greenfield sites. Much of my first year as a councillor has, therefore, been spent on planning issues. The Island does not have an up to date 5-year land supply and has failed to meet housing targets imposed by central government. Accordingly, the so called ‘tilted-balance’ has been applied to the Island which makes it more difficult for planning applications to be refused. The Council has agreed to join forces with the 53 other local authorities which are subject to the tilted balance to bring about its suspension by lobbying the Government. Michael Gove has indicated that there are to be major changes to planning law, which may well include the scrapping of mandatory housing targets. It seems somewhat illogical, therefore, to punish local authorities for failing to meet past targets.

I am a member of the following council committees, planning, corporate scrutiny, licensing, appeals and the Yarmouth Harbour Advisory Committee. In addition, I was chair of the Task and Finish Group appointed to review the proposed Draft Island Planning Strategy.

Peter Spink

April 2022