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Council leaders say house building figures unrealistic
Ref : 08/059 : Date : 10-07-2008
Council Leaders in the South East have reacted angrily to the latest proposals
for a massive increase in house building in the region.
Their comments came in the wake of the publication of a report by government advisors, the National Housing and Planning Advice Unit, which suggest a case for a hike in house-building in the south east to nearly up to 50,000 new dwelling each year. This is an increase of 21,000 dwellings per annum on the level proposed in the South East Plan.
Cabinet members for Regeneration, Ann Barlow (for Worthing BC) and Jim Funnell (for Adur DC), says: “The advice published today is totally unrealistic and bears no relation at all to what the environment and infrastructure of the region is able to absorb. The South East Plan has been the subject of expensive consultation and has been tested through public examination by independent inspectors. They recommended a 10% increase in house building over what we had planned, taking us up to 32,000 dwelling each year. We have been waiting for the Government response to this for almost a year now. It now appears that the Government and its advisors have their sights on even higher levels of house building and have no intention of taking account of the democratic process and the evidence that was rigorously tested.
It appears we have been wasting our time with all the work done so far. District Councils are in the front-line of the planning process and can testify to a significant downturn both in planning applications for new dwellings and house completions and the prospect of a massive hike in house building over the next few years does not sit well with an economy that is clearly languishing. District councils are anxious to make progress on their local development frameworks, but this latest proposal, on top of all the uncertainty caused by proposed ecotowns, is making it extremely difficult for Councils to make progress with their plans. We urge the Government to reject this advice.”
This is not the Government's response to the SE Plan which is expected on 17/7.
Ends
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