From Keith Wilson, Newport:

Enough is enough, turning this garden Isle into a concrete jungle for the retired and second home owners.

Jonathan Young wrote: ”County Hall has known for years that lots of holiday home owners are paying no council tax and no business rates — 720 of them as of last August — and that many of them are enjoying a free lunch by getting their bins emptied for nothing”. (CP, Weekender 15-02-19).

Just 132 were paying business rates, what percentage of those proposed 9,000-plus new homes will be holiday homes paying nothing? Along with the 720 already not paying as quoted above.

As you already know, St Mary’s Hospital has no more capacity, patients having to travel to the mainland in their hour of need for vital treatment.

Roads and infrastructure cannot cope now, and 9,000-plus houses (average of four persons per property) will raise the Island’s population by 25 per cent to approximately 200,000.

Can Lynnbottom landfill site cope with the increased refuse this will bring?

Will a pipeline from the mainland for fresh water be required to accommodate the proposed 40,000 population increase?

What percentage of these houses will be affordable for the 5,000 to 6,000 unemployed residents of the Island?

Can a figure be put on an affordable house? Bearing in mind the very low wages paid here.

May I quote the comments from Bob Seely MP (CP, 08-02-19): “I am concerned about our housing targets; these targets are set by the national government according to a formula that takes no account of our unique circumstances. First the targets are too hight and secondly, they are not designed for Islanders.”

I believe we need to prioritise housing for Islanders and in numbers that respect our landscape.

That means we build fewer houses, but those that we do build are overwhelmingly designed for Islanders first and foremost.

That way we look after both our own and our environment.

Will a referendum be required to resolve this contentious issue?

With this mass influx of people, will there be sufficient new jobs created?

Why should our Island of outstanding natural beauty be blighted for so many by so few?