I recently received an email from Rother District Council (RDC) attaching the agenda for the forthcoming planning committee meeting to be held at 9:30am on Thursday, July 20 at Bexhill Town Hall.
Out of idle curiosity I looked at the planning applications submitted and one application raised some interesting responses with two very differing points of view.
Application ref RR/2023/919/P submitted by Southern Housing Ltd on a site in Westfield known as Westfield Down confirms their proposal to amend a previously consented application for up to 39 residential units on the site (of which 40% were affordable) to a new application to make the whole 39 unit site 100% affordable housing.
By way of introduction, Southern Housing and Optivo merged earlier this year which has created a new 77,000 home social landlord. Optivo in partnership with Court Developments developed the site which also provides a new football pitch and changing room facilities for use by the local football club and community.
On the original approved scheme, 24 of the 39 houses were for the open market whilst the remaining 15 would have been affordable units (eight for rent and seven as shared ownership).
The proposed amendment relates to the delivery of a 100% affordable housing scheme with 23 of the dwellings delivered as affordable housing for rent and 16 delivered as shared ownership units.
The recommendation to the planning committee at Rother District Council is that the application is approved, subject to various conditions.
Recent press reports confirm that there is an ongoing and urgent need for affordable housing in many areas of the UK but particularly in the south east, where house prices are prohibitively expensive for anyone starting out on the housing ladder. You can therefore appreciate why the applicant is seeking a revised consent which has now been recommended for approval.
However, not everyone is in agreement. The local council have a different view and have made their feelings known publicly. Westfield Parish Council has stated that they do not and have never supported the 100% affordable housing position. Their preference is for the originally approved split of 60% open market and 40% affordable homes. This position is shared by some local residents.
This being said, for the sake of expediency the parish council have advised that they would support a compromise of 13 affordable rented, 13 shared ownership and 13 open market properties, arguing that this would make the site a truly mixed and sustainable site and that it would address the significant short fall in the district for open market properties.
On one hand, you have the applicant who wants to amend their original consented application to develop 39 units of which 40% would be affordable, to making the whole site 100% affordable. The local parish council do not support this view and would rather see a more mixed development which would include housing to supply the demand for the local open market housing need. The two differing agendas are now registered in the public domain and the planners have confirmed that they are favouring supporting the application. The units are virtually all completed and the site is becoming established so a decision is needed.
‘With regard to the 23 units of affordable housing for rent, the proposed new site plan shows that these would be clustered in the central and western areas of the site and the accommodation schedule is as follows: • 4 x 1-bed flats. • 2 x 2-bed flats. • 1 x 2-bed bungalow. • 5 x 2-bed houses. • 9 x 3-bed houses. • 2 x 4-bed houses. With regard to the 16 shared ownership units, the new site plan shows that these would be clustered in the north-eastern and south-eastern areas of the site and the accommodation schedule is as follows: • 4 x 2-bed houses. • 10 x 3-bed houses. • 2 x 4-bed houses’.
There you have it, two contrasting points of view from the applicant and the local parish council. The application will soon be determined but, if approved (which seems likely) are the planners making the right decision? Not in the opinion of Westfield Parish Council.
NB: By the time this article (which was written on 11 July 2023) is published the meeting referred to will have taken place.
Image Credits: Nick Forman .