2:00pm Saturday 13th February 2010
By David Connop Price
THOUSANDS of new homes are needed in Basingstoke and Deane to enable those on low incomes to afford one, according to a Government minister.
In an exclusive interview with The Gazette, Jonathan Shaw MP, minister for south east England, responded to the repeated attacks by councillors about the “top-down imposition” of housing targets, and the need for more support to deliver infrastructure.
The Government has told Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council to allocate enough land for developers to build 945 homes a year – 18,900 homes between 2006 and 2026.
Mr Shaw said: “There are 1,762 households in Basingstoke and Deane on the housing waiting list. That’s 2.6 per cent of total households. There is a demand for more homes.”
The minister explained the figure for the number of homes needed had been produced from projections of population growth and demand, and the figure 945 “isn’t hugely different” to that produced by independent inspectors. The independent analysis had proposed 820 homes per year.
He also pointed out there were 1,302 new homes delivered in the borough in the 2008-09 financial year.
“The numbers have been arrived at by very careful considerations. It isn’t our desire to impose anything that isn’t achievable and we will review it over a 20-year period,” said Mr Shaw.
“I don’t know what the circumstances will be in 20 years but we do know people need somewhere to live. I do recognise it is a sensitive issue and it is important the Government maintains discussions with councils such as Basingstoke and Deane.”
Some councillors have said that if the borough is to take the proposed levels of development, tens of millions of pounds in Government funding will be needed to provide infrastructure.
As a designated “growth point” in the South-East, Basingstoke and Deane has so far received £6.5million from the Government, which has been allocated to studies into water and transport infrastructure, and to plans to regenerate Basing View.
Mr Shaw said developer contributions would provide some funding for infrastructure, and added: “We will have a road programme which there will be funding for, and if you look at the transport investment across the south east it’s been considerable.”
As the council seeks places to put the new homes, a three-way battle has emerged between those defending fields east and west of Basingstoke and those seeking to prevent housing being crammed into the town itself.
Mr Shaw acknowledged the environmental concerns, saying: “We need to get a balance between ensuring there are enough homes and also protecting the countryside, and that is why 60 per cent of the new development should be on brownfield land.”
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