Investment and development opportunities

If you are an investor, a stakeholder, a resident, a business or are just interested in discussing any of the opportunities listed below, please do get in contact with the Regeneration team by email using the contact details section. This list of active sites will be refreshed as further opportunities are identified.

View a map illustrating some of the active sites (PDF, 2Mb, 1 page).

This group of sites identified around Newport Harbour and the area between the quay and County Hall is currently underutilised. It provides the opportunity for a new harbourside mixed use development including leisure/tourist facilities, commercial and residential development.  Moreover it offers the opportunity to transform the quality of new build development in Newport, augment economic activity in the town and generally improve the quality of place to attract further inward investment.  The site could deliver a total of 65 new homes and 510 new jobs. 

The site is located in the Ryde Esplanade area by Ryde Pier, and immediately to the north of the town centre. The Interchange is a main gateway to the Isle of Wight.  It is directly connected to the mainland by ferry and hovercraft and to the south of the island by train (the Island Line).  Elements of historic importance and unique character, such as the Grade II listed Ryde Pier are adjacent to, or fall within the site.  Replacing the outdated ticketing and retail facilities, improving the public realm and designing more coordinated pedestrian and public transport networks would create an iconic environment for Ryde, as well as for the whole of the island and upgrade the experience for visitors and residents alike.  The site has a history of regeneration attempts and the Council is determined to ensure that this project succeeds, We will be pulling together work previously undertaken in coming forward with a number of options for consideration. Key to this will be that we are ensuring that any future options are viable from the outset. This site could deliver up to 150 new jobs.

This site is undeveloped land adjacent to an existing, well utilised industrial estate.  It therefore offers an opportunity to extend the industrial estate.  The site is considered an employment allocation area as the extension of the existing neighbouring industrial estate could deliver additional employment floorspace, new jobs and enhance the tax base. Mindful of the need to ensure deliverability, the Council will be looking to include enabling housing development if required. We are currently talking to potential future users of the extended business park, so please do get in touch if locating your business here would be of interest.

This is a primarily council-owned site currently occupied by a leisure centre, council office and healthcare uses.  As part of the NHS Local Estates Strategy an options appraisal has been undertaken which proposed the creation of a new health and wellbeing hub to serve the South Wight area, alongside the existing leisure centre.  This would consolidate health uses in the area and release the Arthur Webster Clinic site in order to obtain a capital receipt.  This project was included in the recent One Public Estate (OPE) expression of interest to central government.  OPE discussions should be used to review the scope, ensuring the proposed development maximises opportunities for integration of health and social care services to help the Council, as well as NHS partners, to realise efficiencies and improvements in service delivery. This should include a review of the car parking provision on site and the potential addition of residential (e.g. extra care housing), should the site capacity allow for this level of development. The site could deliver a total of 24 new jobs.

Formed of three sites along the Shanklin promenade currently used for car parking; one site, adjacent to the Cliff Lift, includes a derelict hotel building. There is an opportunity to consolidate car parking onto a single site along the seafront and release the surplus car parks for high quality leisure and commercial development as part of a transformed offer in Shanklin, which complements Shanklin Old Town, the Cliff Lift and promenade.  We would want any leisure or commercial development on these sites to raise the bar in terms of the quality of the tourist offer, in order to drive further improvements in tourist accommodation and facilities in the area.  The approach will therefore be targeted towards a high-quality boutique hotel or commercial leisure operator, who would make a feature of the iconic Cliff Lift and find innovative ways to incorporate this in any development.  The sites could deliver a total of 20 new jobs and help to significantly increase development value in the area over the long term.

This redundant school building on the edge of Sandown has the potential to provide a residential development and is considered particularly suitable for an extra care housing development, as part of an Islandwide extra care housing strategy.  Residents of any extra care facility would be able to take advantage of the site’s relative proximity to Sandown town centre, train station and the health and social care services based out of The Heights site.  This would reduce the requirement for additional facilities within the extra care scheme and ensuring its residents remain independent and part of the local community.  The Council’s recent decision to demolish the old school building provides the opportunity for development to progress at a reasonable pace.  The site could deliver a total of 60 new extra care homes.

Following the transfer of part of this site to the Homes and Community Agency (HCA) and work progressed by NHS partners, there is a clear opportunity to deliver a mixed use community/social (health and wellbeing hub) and residential development (circa 70 units) on this site.

The rationalisation of the NHS estate at St Mary’s Hospital, its adjacency to a large existing industrial estate and vacant land at Horsebridge Hill, as well as other Council ownerships in the area, provide the opportunity for the development of additional employment space for high-tech industry in Newport. The site could deliver a total of 3,000 new jobs.

This former Ministry of Justice (MoJ) site has already been identified for a large mixed-use development comprising approximately 1,300 homes through the Medina Valley Area Action Plan (AAP).  It also forms part of the Parkhurst Forest Garden Village site included in an expression of interest to government earlier this year.  The proposed garden village would include new homes; community and social infrastructure; high quality open spaces and landscaping; and retained enhanced heritage assets.  The site could deliver a total of 1,300 new homes and 6,000 new jobs. 

The Isle of Wight Council has secured funding of £5.8m from the government’s Levelling Up Fund to help deliver 3 projects collectively known as the East Cowes Marine Hub which are located on the waterfront in East Cowes. In partnership with local stakeholders, these three projects will unlock a range of economic, skills and visible placemaking outcomes. Projects include bringing forward derelict industrial space within the Columbine and marine engineering works to cater for a larger hoist to support marine design and engineering job opportunities, the refurbishment of the semi-derelict 19th century Victoria Barracks to provide a new marine training facility and the public realm improvements to the land at Albany to include a new toilet, planting and improved event space for the town. More information can be found on www.eastcowesregneeration.co.uk.