New rules to reduce pressure to build on greenfield sites and deliver more homes that fit the character of their local area have been cautiously welcomed by MP Bob Seely.
The new rules – which will come into effect by September – will mean full planning applications will not be required to demolish and rebuild unused buildings as homes and commercial and retail properties will be able to be quickly repurposed to help revive high streets and town centres.
Homeowners will also be able to add up to 2 additional storeys to their home to create new homes or more living space for growing families through a fast track approval process.
Housing Secretary Rt Hon Robert Jenrick MP said:
“We are reforming the planning system and cutting out unnecessary bureaucracy to give small business owners the freedom they need to adapt and evolve, and to renew our town centres with new enterprises and more housing.
“These changes will help transform boarded up, unused buildings safely into high quality homes at the heart of their communities.”
Mr Seely said:
“I cautiously welcome these new laws if they will help to revitalise brownfield sites and protect our green spaces. We need some new housing, albeit in much smaller numbers than the Government suggests, but we must protect our green spaces as we build.
Article continues below this advertisement “These rules should help us to create homes in line with local need. We need one- and two-bedroom housing for our young people and the closer to public transport links and amenities the better. The regeneration of town centres for housing fits with our local need.”
The government said it will set out plans this month to reform England’s 7-decade old planning system to deliver more high-quality, well-designed homes, and beautiful and greener communities for people to live in.
The island doesn’t need more homes – stop encouraging people to turn up here, get rid of second home ownership and indicate to people that if you have kids and haven’t got the money to support them before they are born, then no state housing will be available and no sponging off the rest of us.
So major planning decisions will be postponed until September, then?
So now that Pennyfeathers, and likely by then Bullen, along with Ashey road have all been given the green light by developers, who have already started to destroy wild grasslands, hedges, and trees, and where all the wildlife of such feed, live and will now die within the bulldozed smouldering heaps which were once ancient, beautiful hedges, they then will destroy the character of the towns disused shops.
Exchanging Victorian buildings of beauty and elegance for modern ugly, characterless boxes, of which the maximum amount of delightful mainland overspill residents will be crammed into.
As more and more people are ‘encouraged here’ as the main council get payment from other city councils, to then ‘unload’ their most ‘troublesome’ tenants onto our once peaceful Isle.
IF Bob Seely had any guts, compassion and gumption, he should be looking into ending this ‘payment for trash’ set up, where other councils get rid of overspill by paying greedy, selfish councillors to take such.
We will end up with a huge percentage more of just the ‘sort’ the Island can well do without.
We ‘were’ only different here because of our population were once locals or people who PAID to come here because they enjoyed the peace, the quite lifestyle which the Island DID offer.
The difference is, the rubbish that will be sent and ‘paid’ by the state to live here will only come because it is an easy place for drug dealing, plenty of ports for supplying, low Police presence and UNTIL more arrive, few rival gangs to hinder their market share.
NO social housing should be given to anyone other than Island families and ONLY then IF they have a proven track record of paying their way, looking after their property and a clean track record on drugs. Those TWO or THREE families would be most welcome to their new homes.
They do not go far enough, building on green spaces should be made almost impossible, from what i can see, builders will still be able to build on them.
Out of the eight new properties in the street I have moved in to – families from the mainland have moved in to at least five of them – possibly escaping the mainland to somewhere that faired better in lockdown? I can understand why people want to move to this beautiful island.
In total – out of 24 bedrooms – only one is lived in by a born and bred Isle of Wighter – me.
Let’s hope the shake up does something to stop all the back door deals that are done by planners everywhere, and that’s from the top down. Bring some sense and democracy into the whole planning situation. Not holding out much hope though.
The need for large numbers of new homes for the Island is a fallacy peddled by developers, land owners, and an apathetic and toothless planning department.
The narrative gets oxygen from bogus ‘Housing Needs Surveys’ which then get adopted as policy despite only having had input from a tiny and unrepresentative number of respondents.
The Draft Island Plan covered a whole range of aspirations for the Isle of Wight but it was only the housing proposals that attracted an overwhelming rejection.
So where is the voice of the people desperate for houses? Why are they not on here screaming for these houses and making their case?
All we ever seem to read about is how housing consortiums have carefully identified a so called “local” need and want to help the poor and weedy. (Return to first paragraph).