THE Isle of Wight Council has denied rumours it is planning to sell Puckpool Park to a developer.
The authority issued a statement following the establishment of a Save Puckpool Park Campaign website set-up after developer ZeroC bought an option to develop the neighbouring, derelict, Harcourt Sands holiday centre.
The campaign website, http://savepuckpool.wordpress.com/ expressed fears the development plans would encompass both the holiday centre and parts of the park.
That was denied by ZeroC which said its early ideas included providing new Puckpool car parking on its own land adjacent to the park.
It said it was looking to build between 150-200 homes on the holiday centre site and offer land for a separate developer to build an hotel.
Isle of Wight Council deputy director for economy and the environment John Metcalfe said: "There is no truth whatsoever in rumours that the council is looking at selling off parts of Puckpool Park as part of the proposed development of Harcourt Sands.
"The rumours may have come from the fact that some time ago the council was approached by the developers asking whether there was any scope to make improvements to Puckpool Park.
"However, we made it clear any potential improvements would need to take account of the fact that parts of the park are protected by English Heritage as a Scheduled Ancient Monument and that Puckpool Park would always remain open to residents and visitors alike to enjoy.
"Since then we have not had any further discussions with the developers."
Reporter: richardw@iwcpmail.co.uk