During my last meeting with Wokingham Borough I was reminded that Wokingham has a target to build 856 new homes a year from 2013. (LEP study of housing need Feb 2016) That makes Wokingham’s share of the West Berkshire total 30%, with the other Councils providing the rest of the 2855. Reading itself has a lower target of 699, despite having substantial brownfield redevelopment potential, the coming of Crossrail and the possibility of more starter home and smaller flats in the centre. Bracknell has to build just 635 a year. Going forward there needs to be a fair division of the requirement.
The total numbers needed in the future also should take into account any change of migration policy designed to lower the numbers of additional people coming to live and work in the country as a whole. The current high numbers of new home sis partly the result of adding 330,000 extra people each year to our population, as we wish anyone coming to live and work here to have access to decent housing. If the government sticks to its target of a substantial reduction and takes the necessary measures on leaving the EU, could the targets be lowered.
Were the Council to agree to a new settlement at Grazeley of 15,000 homes that would on its own provide 17.5 years worth of housing against targets. Would the development be spaced out over such a time period? Is it feasible to say no to building on any other large sites throughout such a long time period? Or might Grazeley add to the build rate? If other sites are granted on appeal or run over from past grants of planning, then we need to build even more infrastructure to take care of a faster build rate than present plans.
I am writing to the authorities to ask what thought is going in to future targets in the light of these issues.
February 14, 2017
The whole range of Infrastructure, roads, doctors hospitals, dentists, schools, Town centre parking, cannot cope, and have no spare capacity now, absolute madness to continue at this rate.
I see with the latest development just started at the Coppid beech Roundabout, we are now joined up with Bracknell, and Bracknell almost joined up with Ascot to the East, Wokingham already joined with Winnersh, Earley, and Reading to the West.
Wokingham already spreading to the North (boundary now A329M), and nearly joined up with Arborfield to the South as well.
Then the Council try to describe Wokingham as a Market Town, some sort of sick joke. !!!
They have now given themselves Planning Permission to part build on the only green open space Elms field, just off of the Town Centre, having already built housing on the Cricket pitch and bowling greens.
Surely enough is enough !
February 16, 2017
Silly to keep building more badly built houses.
A few urgently needed suggestions:
Council officer and his employer who sign off a new house as meeting building regulations need to be made liable, in a way that is easy for a home owner to pursue, when it subsequently turns out the house did not in fact meet the regs.
Building companies need to held liable for building defects longer than the 2 years they typically are now, and real ways for home owners (and not just the first owner) to enforce repairs are done to a proper standard
New build guarantee insurance to have a few changes, all excesses to be removed, insurance company not the home owner to pay for any survey needed to look into alleged fault, much more comprehensive cover needed to include the drive and garage and a whole bunch of other stuff they typically like to get out of paying out for. Builders with a high claim rate to be forced to pay higher insurance premiums.
We need to drive up the quality of new homes, and put incentives in the system for builders to turn out high quality. Maybe something drastic like saying builder only gets final 10 % of purchase price after X years fault free.
February 18, 2017
As there are 50 million too many people in the UK it will take some time to achieve a sane fair society.