B recon Beacons national Park LDP

Position Statement Hearing Session 2 Housing

Cllr John Morris CC ref 6108

STATEMENT

I am the County Councillor for and the it is the biggest ward by electoral role in the BBNPA and the second biggest ward in Powys.

By far my biggest workload involves housing in whatever form, social rented, affordable provision, sheltered housing or open market. Crickhowell and the surrounding areas have a high local need for rental and purchase, however there are very few rental properties due to right to buy etc and open market houses are the most expensive in the National Park and Powys.

The housing provision in this LDP will make the position far worse than it already is, I cannot see how the BBNPA will realistically deliver the 1996 houses they are suggesting. The fact that they have introduced the environmental capacity approach in isolation without balancing the housing needs of the communities is a profound flaw and must be unsound. There is serious doubt by myself and the statutory housing authority Powys CC that they will meet the need. Reason 1 I cannot find the list of 184 completers, are they all new dwellings completed since 2007 or are some conversions and replacement. 2 It is highly unlikely that the 185 committed will be delivered as not all will continue 3 The figure of 638 windfall is wildly optimistic in the present economic climate and even more so due to the new 30% affordable housing contribution proposed in the LDP supplementary guidance. At a recent meeting of the Powys affordable housing partnership (of which BBNPA is a full member) it was concluded that this one policy alone would completely stifle any housing development in the park. Officers of the park chose not to discuss the LDP with the partnership, councillors with wards in the park or PCC officers prior to the deposit stage, totally at odds with LDP guidance. 4 The plan has only allocated 989 dwellings on new sites, many of these sites cannot accommodate the numbers suggested, due to topography (mainly steepness of the site) this further reduces the overall achievable figure.

In order to give a chance of supplying the numbers more sites need to be identified in Key settlements but also small sites in smaller settlements in order for them to continue to grow organically and supply housing for the local and support the infrastructure such as primary schools. A much more informed plan needs to put forward where the constituent local authorities who are the statutory housing authority are engaged at an early stage to give informed direction and vision. The present plan for housing has been put together BBNPA by officers who have no idea or responsibility for housing. It appears that following the additional focussed changes nothing has changed and the environmental capacity approach to restrict housing numbers is being introduced by stealth. The housing policy in this LDP is unsound.

Cllr John Morris