Isle of Wight Settlement Coalescence Study Prepared by LUC April 2018 Project Title: Isle of Wight Settlement Coalescence Study Client: Isle of Wight Council Version Date Version Details Prepared by Checked by Approved by 4.0 26/4/2018 Final Jon Pearson Jon Pearson Philip Smith Richard Swann Ben Gurney Calum McCulloch Victoria Goosen Isle of Wight Settlement Coalescence Study Report.docm Last saved: 26/04/2018 17:02 Isle of Wight Settlement Coalescence Study Prepared by LUC April 2018 Planning & EIA LUC LONDON Offices also in: Land Use Consultants Ltd Registered in England Design 43 Chalton Street Bristol Registered number: 2549296 Landscape Planning London Edinburgh Registered Office: Landscape Management NW1 1JD Glasgow 43 Chalton Street Ecology T +44 (0)20 7383 5784 Lancaster London NW1 1JD FS 566056 EMS 566057 LUC uses 100% recycled paper GIS & Visualisation
[email protected] Manchester Contents 1 Introduction 1 Context and key issues 1 Purpose of study 1 2 Methodology 3 Overview 3 Tasks undertaken 3 3 Results - nature of gaps and guidelines for maintenance 5 West Wight area 6 Cowes–Newport area 13 Ryde area 26 ‘The Bay’ area 39 4 Policy review and recommendations 46 Policy review 46 Recommended policy approach to avoiding settlement coalescence 53 1 Introduction Context and key issues 1.1 The Isle of Wight has a unique identity characterised by a predominantly rural landscape. Almost half of its coastline is designated as Heritage Coast and over half of the Island is a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The majority of residents live in the Island’s larger settlements, in particular the main towns of Newport, Cowes, East Cowes, Ryde, Sandown and Shanklin.