AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN LONGPARISH- Update

Since the last article in Hill & Valley, a lot has happened! To bring everyone up to date on developments, here are the main points.

The Open Exhibition in the Village Hall on the 28th of November was attended by over 160 people. All the display material and comments are available in the shop and on the village website, www.longparish.org.uk. Views expressed both in writing and in person ranged from strong support to strong objection, with a larger group of people in between, who may support the principle of a modest development of affordable housing, but who have concerns about some aspects and/or about particular sites.

On 29 November, 5 members of the Housing Group met with Test Valley Borough Council officers, to provide feedback on the consultation process so far and to seek clarification on a number of issues raised by villagers, including:

TVBC is responsible for determining housing need. Their officers consider that the results of the Housing Needs Survey (which was based on questions and procedures used nationally), together with the 21 households with strong Longparish connections on their Housing Register, provide evidence of housing needs comparable with that which has led to successful projects in other villages.

Scale of development

According to TVBC, the best way of ensuring that the affordable housing always goes to people with a local connection is to limit the size of the development. As a result, the Housing Group has agreed to recommend a development limited to 12 affordable homes plus the lowest number of commercial homes, up to a maximum of six, needed to enable the affordable homes to be built and provide benefits to the village. The professional planners agree. The Housing Group has therefore rejected the idea of a second phase in the project. There would be no more than 18 homes, and quite possibly fewer.

The Housing Group also received assurances that this size of development would not lead to any “planning creep”; any future development would have to be judged on its own merits, comply with planning law and have to be supported by the community. We also received assurances that the affordable housing would also remain “affordable”; that is, no right to buy or acquire could be applied to it.

Sites

The TVBC officers have advised us that they have some concerns about two of the three initial sites (The Spinney and the Football Field), due to road access and tree issues. In addition, the Group reported some concerns had been raised about drainage on the Zurich site. TVBC's preliminary view is that the Zurich site is the most suitable of the three, but would need to have some work done to mitigate some of the problems with the site. The Housing Group passed over the map from the exhibition with villagers' “green dot” alternative sites, and asked for a speedy response on them and the 3 sites initially identified. Of the 21 sites identified by green dots at the exhibition TVBC has now ruled out 15 and will look further at six near North Acre. TVBC officers will discuss potential sites with the landowners.

Community benefits

Based on feedback from the village so far, the Housing Group has produced a set of “principles” which we believe will help to secure broad community support. They are available in full on the website and in the shop. TVBC has also asked for a list of potential community benefits to be paid for from the proceeds of the sale of the open market houses. Based on feedback from villagers, these include ideas like the purchase of land for a village green and pond (to compensate for the loss of a green field), an all-weather spinal footpath to connect the site and North Acre with the halls, school and pubs, a multi-purpose community meeting room and a contribution to the refurbishment of the village hall.

Community support

The Housing Group asked the TVBC officers who would decide whether community support had been demonstrated, and what criteria would be applied. The Officers replied that their statutory planning responsibilities mean that TVBC is required to be the final arbiter of community support and this is not a decision that can be made within the village. They will take into account all representations and the consultation processes followed by Longparish. They encouraged the village to follow as open a process as possible, fostering rigorous debate. The Exhibition and the proposed Open Forum were seen as good examples of this. The Housing Group will make available to TVBC all the feedback received.

Next steps

On the village website www.longparish.org.uk you can see a full report of the Exhibition, including the material on show, the full details and copies of the correspondence so far, as well as answers to Frequently Asked Questions. There is also a hard copy file available at the Shop. We would like to hear the views of as many people as possible, so please continue to tell us what you think, either through the box at the shop, or by email, or through the website.

If you would like to discuss anything please contact a member of the Housing Group: Mike Johnson (Chair) 720441 Jeremy Barber 720459, Mary Jo Darrah 720320, Cheryl Dowler or Trevor Bettell on 720581, Fiona Gould 720709, Catherine Sweet on 720550. The views expressed in this article are those of the authors and all opinions and inaccuracies are their responsibility