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Leader of Hampshire County Council, Councillor Ken Thornber, is challenging Government to make a firm commitment on infrastructure after it announced a proposed further increase in house building targets for the South East. The Government has finished its consideration of the draft South East Plan and the recommendations of the independent inspector's panel. One of the changes the Government is proposing is to increase the number of houses to be built in Hampshire to 6,685 a year - up from 6,100 in the original draft and higher than the inspectors recommendation of 6,415. Councillor Thornber said: "Today's announcement of higher housing numbers across the region is difficult to understand. Thankfully the increase is not as high as the ridiculous numbers which the National Housing and Planning Advice Unit suggested only a few weeks ago but even so it is strange that the Government is persisting with higher targets when the likelihood of achieving even the existing targets is seriously in doubt due to the current economic situation. "Throughout the South East Plan process the County Council has said that any new development needs to be accompanied by the necessary infrastructure and this is even more important if higher housing numbers are to be accommodated. Despite announcing an increase in house building targets the Government has not come forward with any guarantees that it will be making available funding for the new roads, schools, health facilities and utilities that will be required to accompany new housing. "The positive in terms of infrastructure is that Government has at least recognised the need for people to have access to open areas as they are strengthening the green infrastructure policy within the South East Plan. It is a shame that the same emphasis is not being placed on other services and facilities that residents will need". "The other proposed change I am seriously concerned about is the proposed deletion of the Strategic gaps policy as this could lead to the erosion of these strips of land that are essential in protecting the identity of individual towns, villages and cities across Hampshire. "We will be looking carefully at all the Government's proposed changes and formulating a formal response, but with the possibility of higher housing numbers hanging over our heads one thing we will be pressing for is the need for infrastructure funding to stop our roads from becoming more congested and our services being overwhelmed due to increased demand." The additional housing proposed would be mainly be focused around Whitehill and Bordon, where the District Council is promoting an eco town and looking to development to combat the impact of the MOD's withdrawal from the area, and Basingstoke which has been allocated Growth Point Status. There are also small increases for Hart, Test Valley and Winchester. The Government will be consulting on its proposed changes from 24 October. For more informatin visit Hampshire Constabulary |
