Wealden’s Response to Proposed 20% increase in Housing Numbers
The Independent Panel assessing the Draft South East Plan has now issued its report. For Wealden District Council there are some significant changes to the original recommendations in the South East Plan. Although across the South East the panel have recommended a 2.5% increase in housing numbers, this is not evenly distributed. The figure they propose for the Wealden District is a 20% increase, requiring the Council to increase its target for new homes from 8,000 to 9,600 by 2026. Worryingly, the report offers little in the way of tangible support for infrastructure and the panel did not feel that housing levels can be made contingent on infrastructure delivery.
The Cabinet Portfolio holder for Planning and Development, Cllr Keith Whitehead, says
“I am dismayed by the contents of this report. We know that we need more affordable homes to meet the needs of those in Wealden but, as well as the impact on the environment, my major fear is that the Government will impose this target without providing the hard cash to make new homes truly affordable for local people. Nor are the Government giving any commitment to provide the infrastructure for improvements to roads, schools, healthcare facilities, water services and the jobs that are needed to go alongside any future housing development.”
The Panel’s report does support affordable housing, continued reliance on brownfield sites and higher development densities. Polegate and Uckfield are specifically identified in the report as providing suitable opportunities for growth, given their particular location and current infrastructure arrangements. However, the report also recognises the difficulties posed by specific infrastructure problems, including the A27 and A259 and the capacity of key waste water treatment works.
“The report seems to acknowledge the infrastructure constraints but, in my view, offers no credible solutions”, says the Leader of the Council, Cllr Pam Doodes. “Anyone who uses our roads, like the A27, knows we have a problem, which cannot be resolved without massive investment coming from Government support. All Councillors, across our District, will be deeply concerned about the implications of this report. My Council, which is already considering residents' views under our recent planning consultation exercise, will now have the unenviable job of having to release more land for development purposes, without any guarantee that the other services on which our communities depend will be provided.”
