Harcourt Sands Holiday Park in Ryde - 2023 update

As previously discussed, Harcourt Sands Holiday Resort holds a nostalgic charm for many Islanders and visitors. 

The holiday park closed in 2006 and then suffered from a fire in 2007. I am not entirely sure why Harcourt Sands closed in the first place but media reports say that it was owned by Renowned Holiday Villages when it closed. I can't see any evidence of that company still trading.

In 2018, On The Wight reported that developers had pulled out of a grand plan for 'for 128 residential dwellings, alongside a tourism proposal that would comprise either a 63 bed hotel or 15 holiday units'.

The notable updates since then appeared in 2021 and 2022:

• In February 2021, developers applied to change the development and began demolishing the swimming pool. Isle of Wight Radio reported that an 'alternative model for development of the site is being pursued which would see prefabricated houses built'. They added that 'The new-look of 14 flat-roofed houses has been described as a ‘modernist seaside approach’ by architects Chassay and Last which will provide views across the Solent towards Portsmouth from balconies and rooms designed to ‘enjoy the landscape and the benefits of sea air’.
• A month later, there was a fire at Harcourt Sands 'which happened when an ember from a burn caught an insulated panel - part of the roof structure of the old indoor swimming pool, which is being demolished'
• In April 2021, developers 'put in another planning application, to keep their scheme alive'. Under the plans 'The heavily wooded, eastern part of the site would hold 93 houses if permission is granted for phase two of the development.'
• In December 2022, the Isle of Wight County Press reported that the site was on the Isle of Wight Council's Brownfield Register which is 'sites it considers to be appropriate for residential development.'

I took an early morning jaunt to Ryde this week to have a nosey at the former Harcourt Sands site. I didn't enter the fenced-off site, because I'm very well brought up. I just flew around with my drone to get a look.

I think that the green pipe visible from above is from an outdoor pool which appears at 11 minutes on this Bearded Explorer video and at 1 minute 25 seconds on this video from when the resort was open in 2000.