COUNCILLORS have pledged to ensure amenities and open green spaces within housing developments are maintained by developers.

Councillors supported the move for Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council (BDBC) to ensure green spaces are maintained to an agreed standard, a motion put forward by Cllr Jenny Vaux (Conservative, Chineham).

It will ensure open green spaces within housing developments are maintained by developers to the standards set out by BDBC.

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Cllr Jenny Vaux said: “The motion I am proposing deals with an issue that I am sure every councillor here is familiar with, which is holding developers to account for the proper maintenance of timely movement to the adoption of infrastructure, community amenities, and green spaces on housing developments.

“We have many examples where residents have had to endure poor standards of facility and long delays in adapting then creating anxiety, distress, and often many wasted hours trying to find a remedy."

Cllr Vaux referred to the Sherfield Park development, a large development near the village of Sherfield-on-Loddon with nearly 1,000 houses, which were built in phases.

She said that six years later there remains several areas and facilities which have not been adopted.

She added: “residents get more and more frustrated and as councillors we feel powerless to help.”

Cllr Simon Bound (Conservative, Sherborne St John and Rooksdown) supported the motion.

He said: “There are many things that we talk about that affect a small number of people, but this is thousands of people who live in the borough that goes on for decades and developers promise us the world and they need to deliver on those promises.”

The motion was also supported by Cllr Jacky Tustain (Labour, Popley) who said the motion is a “step in the right direction” and that councillors need to ensure that developers maintain green spaces for the benefit of residents.

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Cllr Paul Harvey added: When you see it yourself be it dead trees or benches that are wobbling like nobodies business or an open space that is still just a piece of mud because it is the last thing they want to deliver is the open space it really does become a real problem because the vision is never what you finally get.”

Cllr Andy McCormick (Labour, Brighton Hill) described developers charging residents a fee as a form of “medieval theft” as he “wholeheartedly” supported the motion.

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