No homes for our children in Waverley Borough
It is a sad indictment, that the actions of the ruling Conservative group at Waverley Council do not match their rhetoric when it comes to providing affordable homes in the Borough. In the final two-year period of the current Conservative administration at Waverley, ending in March 2011, just a miserly 27 affordable homes will have been completed. This compares to a total of 154 affordable homes built in the final two years of the last Liberal Democrat administration, ending in March 2007.
Even though a "Housing Market Assessment", (undertaken by Waverley), shows an underlying shortfall of 481 affordable homes each year in the Borough, the Conservatives running the Council have done nothing to stimulate the market. A look at the current Conservative "Affordable Housing Commissioning Plan", on the Waverley website, shows that they intend to ignore demand because they plan to build less than 50 affordable homes a year between now and 2016.
To underline the elitist nature of the Conservatives plan for all housing tenures in Waverley, one need look no further than the draft Local Development Framework (LDF). This draft contains proposals to build only 152 homes per year for each of the next 15 years. This totally inadequate figure covers affordable and market housing, so with the annual shortfall of 481 affordable homes and government statistics predicting that households in Waverley will increase by more than 300 per year, supply will fall well short of demand. The result of this is likely to be raging house price inflation and even fewer affordable homes for our children.
Anyone who believes that Conservative proposals to build 152 homes per year in Waverley are inappropriate should go to Waverley's LDF consultation before 8th March (http://consult.waverley.gov.uk/portal/ldf/cs/core_strategy/core_strategy) and register their rejection of this number. Then, on the 5th May 2011, every registered voter in Waverley will have the opportunity to change things for the better by voting at the local elections and returning a Liberal Democrats administration to run Waverley.
Instead of planning to cram new developments into our already overcrowded towns and villages with infrastructure stretched to and beyond its limits, as proposed by the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats will address the issue afresh. The Liberal Democrats will develop a local plan that looks at where a minimum of 300 homes per year can be accommodated in Waverley without spoiling the character of existing communities.
Of one thing readers can be sure; doing nothing will result in fewer young families being able to afford to continue living locally. Alternatively registering their objection to the proposed housing numbers and location in the LDF consultation and returning the Liberal Democrats to power at the 5th May elections will at least give hope to those wanting to find an affordable home in Waverley.