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Fears over house projects in region (From Swindon Advertiser)
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Fears over house projects in region
9:20am Saturday 31st July 2010
THE Government’s decision to scrap regional strategies will have a negative impact on housing projects in the south-west, according to a leading property expert.
The secretary of state for communities and local government, Eric Pickles, has announced the abolition of Regional Spatial Strategies, under which local authorities, including Swindon Borough Council, are committed to house building targets.
But Ned Cussen, development head at the Bristol office of property consultants King Sturge, has predicted the move will prevent the development of private and affordable housing in an area in which it is badly needed. And he has warned that the resulting waiting lists will push up house prices in years to come.
“The revocation of regional plans and their spatial development targets by Eric Pickles is a bold but possibly foolhardy move,” said Mr Cussen.
“This approach will do nothing but bring greater uncertainty to the planning system and the delivery of much needed private and affordable housing.
“Without regional and spatial targets for new housing, local councils will look to set their own local housing delivery targets but there is the risk that this may happen in an uncoordinated and haphazard way. How this will ensure council’s responsibly and equitably accommodate new housing is currently unclear.
“We cannot see how this will assist in delivering a coordinated allocation of other community services such as health, education and policing that are linked to housing and population numbers.
“This situation is unfair on many authorities. It could lead, in many cases, to inertia and policy vacuum among local councils regarding working with developers and housing associations on housing delivery. It will also fail to assist in required cost savings for other linked public services and has severe consequences about how planning appeals are judged.
“There is also the fear that it will lead to lengthening waiting lists for public housing, reduced levels of new housing delivery, limited new housing supply going forward and a consequential upward pressure on house prices as demand eventually returns outstripping supply.
“Markets, be they for social or private housing, need certainty and we do not have this at the moment.”
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Your Say YourSwindon
Bobfm, South Marston says...
10:50am Sat 31 Jul 10
Abolishing the RDA's and RSS's will allow applications to go forward and be judged on merit, rather than on a strategy forced on LA's. This should speed things up not slow them down.
But I guess land agents and those representing them are a little nervous that the millions they have invested could well be wasted if LA's decide on the basis of local need, rather the EU imposed targets.
villageoldman, Wroughton says...
11:29am Sat 31 Jul 10
Retired at last, Blunsdon says...
11:43am Sat 31 Jul 10
villageoldman wrote:The problem is that if housing development wasn't concentrated in large urban conurbations like Swindon, then villages would have suffered even more. People around here living in nice quiet villages really need to be grateful that large towns tend to take up most of the development. The housing would have been built anyway so better all in one place than scattered here, there and everywhere.
Unless immigration is controlled there will always be a shortfall in housing . We are the fastest populating country in Europe. Millions in the last in the last 10 years all need houses that's why Swindon has turned into a concrete jungle. Can anybody hand on heart say Swindon is more appealing with these housing estates popping up everywhere.
Bobfm, South Marston says...
12:20pm Sat 31 Jul 10
This further reduces land available for arable farming, not just in and around Swindon but across the UK as a whole.
With 70% of arable land across the EU being set aside for bio-fuels the effect has already been felt with a doubling of food prices in just 12 months.
Retired at last, Blunsdon says...
6:24pm Sat 31 Jul 10
Bobfm wrote:I do not believe that 70% of EU arable land is set aside for bio fuel production.
Retired have you seen the EDA, the vast majority of it is proposed for farm land surrounding villages.
This further reduces land available for arable farming, not just in and around Swindon but across the UK as a whole.
With 70% of arable land across the EU being set aside for bio-fuels the effect has already been felt with a doubling of food prices in just 12 months.
Bobfm, South Marston says...
6:36pm Sat 31 Jul 10
This is from the Environment Agency research.
Land is a limited resource and bioenergy crops take up a large amount of land. If half of the crops needed to meet the UK's five per cent renewable transport target (by 2010) were grown in the UK, 740,000 hectares of land would be needed. By 2010 up to 800,000 hectares could be available in the UK for bio-energy crops. This 'available' land includes all land set-aside and a significant area released from food and fodder production. Replacing set-aside land could lead to loss of habitat and damage biodiversity.
Across the EU, 14 million hectares of land would be needed to meet the 5.75 per cent target in 2010, but there is only 13 million hectares of arable land available. It is therefore highly unlikely that the EU would aim to meet its target just from EU crops, and imports are likely to play a large role.
http://www.environme
nt-agency.gov.uk/res
earch/library/positi
on/41179.aspx
Retired at last, Blunsdon says...
9:08pm Sat 31 Jul 10
It does say in the UK 'set aside' land could be used. That is land NOT under arable production, so would account for a large proportion of the land to be used. In the wider EU view saying there are only 13 million hectares of arable land available does not mean the same area of land actually being used for biofuel production.
I Too, Swindon says...
9:45pm Sat 31 Jul 10
A bully boy developer reckons scrapping RSS's.
Now he'll have to pick on organisations closer to his own size.
active citizen, Swindon. says...
11:40am Sun 1 Aug 10
Given that most people don't want new housing in their area then many applications are likely to be refused.
A housing shortage in Swindon?
Bobfm, South Marston says...
11:47am Sun 1 Aug 10
Retired at last, Blunsdon says...
3:23pm Sun 1 Aug 10
Bobfm wrote:A big difference to what you claimed in your first post when you said "With 70% of arable land across the EU being set aside for bio-fuels". Land that can potentially grow biofuels is different from the land actually growing arable crops at the moment. What this means in the UK is that 'set aside' land could be used. The main sufferers, according to the report you quoted, was wildlife.
Retired which ever way you extrapolate the information from the EU whether on a global basis or regional and local they are talking 70% of land potentially able to grow crops. If land not allocated for bio fuels is then allocated to housing the food chain will undoubtedly suffer, as it clearly is already. That was the whole point of my post. I think it is your group (as you don't like cabal) demanding the Adver exclude me.
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Blackmalkin, Blackmalkin says...
10:25am Sat 31 Jul 10