Get the facts right about new housing
In future, Kate Knaggs should research her facts before putting pen to paper or sending a hasty e-mail to the letters page ("New homes yes, countryside no", Mercury Mailbox, October 2).
Let me give her some facts.
The Conservative Cabinet at Charnwood Borough Council have not given the go-ahead for 4,500 houses adjoining our village, merely a direction for further detailed traffic modelling
Kate states that the country has a housing crisis.
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We all know that the Labour government didn't only leave the country with a huge burden of debt, it also left a huge need for housing.
This need has to satisfy targets set by the previous government.
In this process, all local authorities have to submit a plan for future housing growth.
Unfortunately, Leicester City Council, while working on its own local plan failed to identify sufficient land to accommodate its future housing targets.
It sought partners to fulfil the housing needs. This required a strategy of urban concentration from district councils that adjoin the city boundaries.
At the cabinet meeting in December 2005, the Labour administration at Charnwood Borough Council agreed to a policy of urban concentration, therefore agreeing to take the residual housing numbers from the city council.
The current Conservative administration now has its hands tied, unless we can find overwhelming evidence, such as unacceptable traffic congestion; we are left with the problem of finding land to accommodate 5,893 dwellings adjoining the city boundary in Charnwood, of which 4000-plus may be located north of Hamilton and east of Thurmaston.
We have tried in vain to talk to the Labour administration at the city council.
Recently, an open letter have been sent in to the Mercury to the mayor (from County Councillor Stephen Hampson, Mercury Mailbox, September 18) in a bid to open a dialogue to renegotiate the deal so that the "overspill" can be accommodated within the huge areas of brownfield sites contained within the city boundaries.
I would suggest that rather than criticise Charnwood Borough Council in its efforts to sort out the mess inherited from its predecessors, Kate and her Labour colleagues join with their brothers and sisters of all political affiliations and try to persuade the city council to review its policy and build on land within its boundaries, rather than open countryside.
Paul Harley, Charnwood Borough Councillor, Thurmaston.
Comments
by llamalamb
Friday, October 05 2012, 7:56AM
“How about some new council housing then? The Charnwood villages are already oversupplied with large houses for the well heeled. What we need is more affordable rented housing for those who are not in the income bracket to afford a big mortgage or do not have access to large amounts of capital. With the current changes taking pace within the council's housing organisation surely the time would be right to start building again.”
by Peter20101
Thursday, October 04 2012, 12:51PM
“A one sees tobe set by today's poliician, wether they be National or Local, is one that it is always someone eles's problem that has been inherrited or an "its not our fault" approach.
Sadly this creates party posutring on all sides, which not only tiresome, but not required.
All elected members have been elected to epresent local communities/wards and to work with all other elected members.
Councils ave voted over periods not to manage overspill from other Districts, but still this is used as a reason for major developments
Housing is needed, but the data used to say how many is not only out of date, but utilised data & information from pre-recesion periods, including very positive views as to the economic outook.
So the data is wrong, but we dont challenge it, but we blame someone else for the mess, but continue with the plans that not only created the mess but will make things worse and very unpopular and unwanted.
Remind me why todays polticians are the rght people for the job again or are they just the same as the previous ones who made misakes as well?”