| Join the Green Party and you'll receive our local quarterly newsletter, as well as invitations to Green Events. You'll be invited to attend meetings, join our discussion list, vote on issues, and contribute to our campaigns and policies for North Devon. |
The Bradworthy Wind Turbines
Councillor
Christie's Weblog
From your Torridge District Councillor Peter Christie
Previous entries
|
28th October '07
The grindingly long transfer of £14 million worth of Torridge’s council houses to the Tarka housing association for nothing continued last week with a detailed presentation to the council’s Community Development Committee about what stage the process had reached. As the saying goes the devil is in the detail and although councillors and most tenants voted in favour there are still lots of intriguing details coming out. I for one didn’t realise that Torridge (or rather the ratepayers) were paying for the expensive services of specialist solicitors to push the handover through. Again, Torridge will have the right to make nominations of tenants from local waiting lists to just 75% of the homes after Tarka take them over. I did ask if the other 25% could be filled with non-local people (the mythical mass immigration of Mancunians springs to mind) but was told that though this was ‘theoretically possible’ it was unlikely in practice. One thing that is a strong possibility given the more ‘business orientated’ approach of housing associations like Tarka is the increased number of evictions – though we were assured that any tenant going into arrears would be quickly targeted by Tarka’s officials to see how they could clear their debts and avoid being evicted. I wait to see what happens in reality once Tarka takes over on December 10. I was pleased to learn, however, that Tarka would use their ‘best endeavours’ to employ local contractors on all the extensive work they have promised to carry out.
I make no excuse for returning to the question of housing yet again. Young people in Bideford, as everywhere else, have been virtually priced out of the market and the only answer seems to be building more houses – although in many instances these new homes go to ‘buy-to-let’ purchasers or even holiday home owners. The main problem with providing new houses is finding land on which to build and to this end Torridge commissioned a study by Scott Wilson a Birmingham based firm of consultants. They identified 3 main sources of new accommodation over the years 2004-2016 viz. the subdivision of existing houses, brownfield (previously used) land and ‘Other’. The report runs to 55 pages excluding some detailed appendices and, based on a ‘moderate’ level of demand, they identified sites for around 1500 new units of accommodation on brownfield sites - or about 125 per year for 12 years. This included, for example, 216 houses at Kynochs, 69 at the Cattle Market and 26 at Westcombe. These totals are based on a moderate density as they are keen to avoid ‘town cramming’ which I have to say is a new, though very useful, phrase to me. I should add that merely because a site has been identified in this report there is no presumption that it can, or even should, be developed. Though if sites do come forward on brownfield land then current greenfield sites could be ‘deallocated’ from Torridge’s plans which might set alarm bells ringing amongst local developers hoarding land in the hope of ever higher prices. I was delighted to see a new and very pragmatic approach to LOTS or ‘Living over the shop’ where currently unused accommodation above shops in Bideford will be brought back into use. There are around 60 such premises and the consultants think some 37 of them might be achievable. All in all the report though written in the special language of consultants is a fascinating document that will help decide Torridge policy for a generation to come.
Website designed by Jon Hooper
Published and promoted by Jon Hooper, 3 Elizabeth Court, Well Street, Torrington EX38 8EP on behalf of the North Devon Green Party, 1 Taw View Terrace, Bishops Tawton, EX32 0AW
PLEASE NOTE: Not all of the material presented on this site is necessarily Green Party Policy or endorsed by The Green Party.