REVISED plans for the controversial Ryde boarding school have been submitted to the Isle of Wight Council this morning (Friday).

The school lodged an appeal against the Isle of Wight council after it refused the original plans at the end of last month. However, this second set of plans have now also been submitted.

The new plans feature changes to the design, with rendered cornices similar to other large building in the area. The wooden cladding of the previous scheme has been replaced with dark grey render on the lower levels, and the white render of the previous scheme is removed from a large part of the building to expose the yellow brick. The windows on the new design now line up, creating a more regular appearance, with stone window sills.

The school have put together a mock up of the new proposal, which is available for residents to view in the school foyer.

The application states: "It should be noted that in the refusal of the previous scheme, the only reason given for refusal was design. There was no mention of any potential adverse impact on neighbouring properties.

"A wide-reaching neighbourhood consultation was undertaken before the submission of the original scheme, with neighbours' opinions and views taken into account. Changes were made to the scheme to limit impact as far as possible. Following the refusal of the earlier scheme, [Ryde School] met with the residents' group to seek further comments.

"Another pre-submission consultation was undertaken with the Council, and the advice from these meetings informed this application.

"This scheme, if approved, would ensure the long-term viability of Ryde School and would enable it to compete with similar mainland schools. The private school market is very competitive, and schools without sufficient boarding provision are at a significant disadvantage."

However, the campaign group against the building — Ryde Against Boarding House — said they were disappointed that Ryde School had submitted a second set of plans before hearing the result of their appeal to the Planning Inspector.

An RABH spokesperson said: "This application appears to have been rushed and continues to have many significant inconsistencies. The timing of the application is also controversial as the 3 week ‘consultation period’ now falls over Christmas and New Year when members of the public and IWCC staff are on their holidays.

"The application is very similar to the one rejected by the IWCC Planning Committee only 4 months ago.

"It will cause immense (and unnecessary) damage to the Conservation Area, the natural environment and lives of local residents. The school seems to have no interest in arriving at a solution acceptable to all parties. There are much better solutions available for the town of Ryde. Instead they want to bulldoze (pun intended) their plans through, almost as if it were a test of machismo.

"Ninety-five years of goodwill and mutual respect between the town and the school is rapidly vanishing”.