County Hall Demolished? Isle Of Wight Conservatives Unveil Election Plans

Newport's County Hall, fire station and police station are among the sites earmarked for housing if the Isle of Wight Conservatives are re-elected at next month's local elections.

Plans, described as "ambitious", have been unveiled by council leader, Cllr Dave Stewart.

They aim to "transform" the Island's county town, "whilst protecting green space from development elsewhere on the Island".

Although the proposals are only preliminary, the Island's Tories say they hope to "rejuvenate" a town which has more than 50 empty shops.

An aerial shot of Newport town centre, with a red line showing public sector land stretching from Newport Quay to the Shoulder of Mutton site. This also shows The Guildhall marked in blue.

The Conservatives say County Hall, the car park, fire and police stations, as well as other public land could be used to provide "more, much-needed homes".

Combining the ambulance, police and fire station hubs are part of the plans, as are using Newport Guildhall as a civic centre for the town.

No site has yet been earmarked for the combined HQ - and no figures detailing cost have been touted either.

Other plans include:

• The designation of a wider area, east of Holyrood Street, Sts’ Thomas Square and Town Lane, for residential-led development (the third element), taking advantage of new planning rules to create new homes (or where desirable, encouraging full planning permission to enable more substantial changes).

• Retaining much of the cultural heritage of the area, with historic buildings being retained and enhanced – and Class E (commercial, business and service) uses remaining in place where existing businesses wish to continue in their present form.
   
• Establishing a new civic centre in The Guildhall, including a new council chamber (with flexible space) on the first floor for use by the Isle of Wight Council and other public uses. This would be an enhanced heritage asset, sitting alongside other cultural assets such as Apollo Theatre and Quay Arts within the Riverside Quarter.
   
• Minimising the number of additional cars associated with the residential development, by introducing a car club initiative where vehicles could be shared between public sector staff during the day and made available to local residents in the evenings and at weekends, in line with models being developed elsewhere.

Speaking about the plans, council leader Cllr Dave Stewart told Isle of Wight Radio:
 
“The pandemic has had an irreversible impact on our town centres, including Newport. Rather than managing decline, we must now look at how we take a radically different approach to breathe new life into our County Town, which will also help us protect green spaces elsewhere on the Island.

“What we are unveiling today is a set of ideas to start a dialogue with fellow Islanders about how we revitalise Newport Town Centre. These are, at this stage, just proposals – but ones which we intend to take forward with vigour if re-elected in the forthcoming elections.
 
“I firmly believe that the Council must lead the way. The local authority has riverside landholdings at the heart of the town centre, including our principal offices which are now significantly under-occupied due to the rollout of home-working. Whilst staff will still need places to meet in person from time to time, it is evident that this can be provided on a much smaller scale in a series of locations around the Island. It is therefore right that we look to release the majority of the County Hall site (and adjoining car parks) to unlock the regeneration of Newport through this riverside development, making it an even more attractive place for people to live and visit.

 An aerial shot of Newport town centre, with a red line showing a wider area.
 
“We would also look to establish a new combined headquarters and operation centre for public services, combining facilities for the police, the fire service, elements of health provision (separate to St Mary’s) and the local authority. A number of potential locations for such a hub are under consideration, but we must not compromise our commitment to securing value-for-money by talking about specific sites at this stage. Having a combined location also aligns with our approach to secure a more integrated approach to the delivery of public services, strengthening what was put in place during the pandemic. We are also determined to keep a staff presence in the town centre to support High Street footfall during the day.
 
“I am confident that we can work with our public sector partners to see a number of their sites added to the mix. There are also many privately-owned buildings within the proposed Quarter, and the owners of many of these properties will already be considering the possible use of new planning rules to enable a change to residential. Whilst this is understandable, there is also the potential for the Council to explore whether more substantial changes – in keeping with Newport’s historic character – could be granted planning permission to further improve the diversification of the town centre.
 
“We also recognise that there is widespread public concern about the potential for many more new homes being built on open green space in different parts of the Island. By bringing forward proposals such as our Newport Riverside Quarter vision, we can remove the need – for many years – to provide new residential properties in our green spaces (unless there are exceptional reasons to do so). Protecting the Island’s countryside is a key part of our forthcoming manifesto, and this Newport Riverside proposal will help us achieve that.”