Affordable Housing in Bishop's Itchington

Affordable Homes Public Consultation

A public consultation on the possible location of affordable homes was carried out in February 2011. An independent report and analysis of this consultation was commissioned by the parish council and is available to download on the right hand side of this page.

The most popular choice of location among those residents who completed the questionnaire was the top of Station Road, just south of Lodge Bungalow. The parish council voted to support this site at its meeting on Monday, 6 June 2011. A proposed layout for the site will be drawn up for further public consultation in due course.

Anyone interested in this issue is advised to regularly check the agendas for parish council meetings which are published on this website 3 working days before the date of the meeting.

The location and building of affordable homes in the village is one of the most important issues for the village in the last few years. It will have a lasting and irreversible impact on the community and therefore it is vitally important that all residents take this opportunity to make their voice heard. Some people may feel that they will be less affected than others and it may be tempting to ignore this consultation. However, there are implications for traffic which will affect everyone and with rising property prices, many younger people may find in the future that they cannot afford to buy a home in the village which will not only impact on their own lives but possibly on the lives of their parents as well.

Why do we need any new homes?

A number of housing surveys carried out over the last few years have consistently demonstrated the need for a small number of affordable homes to be built in Bishop's Itchington. These homes would be strictly for local people with a strong connection to Bishop's Itchington. Over the last two years, the parish council has been working in partnership with Warwickshire Rural Community Council (WRCC) and Warwickshire Rural Housing Association (WRHA) to find a way to satisfy this need.

Previous public consultations have helped to identify potential sites for these homes which the council has investigated further through discussion with local landowners and the help and advice of planning officers at Stratford District Council and Warwickshire County Council. The process has been a very lengthy one because the parish council, which represents the whole community, is anxious to find the best possible location for these homes. We want to provide the opportunity for good quality affordable accommodation for local people which integrates well with the existing village and community.

The last housing survey, which was conducted in 2007, actually identified a need for 25 dwellings but the parish council has agreed with WRCC and WRHA that the first phase would be for just 12 homes and would comprise a mixture of family homes and bungalows for elderly or disabled people. If at some point in the future it can be demonstrated that there is still a need for the remaining 13 dwellings, a further series of public consultations would take place. At the moment however, we are only looking at building a total of 12 affordable homes which would be available to rent by local people.

Full details of the housing surveys and public consultations carried out are available for downloading from the right hand side of this page.

Which sites have been considered?

A total of 8 potential sites have been considered. One of these was discounted almost immediately because the land is not available for development. A further 5 were discounted after long discussions with planning and highways officers who finally rejected them as not suitable for development for a number of reasons which included visual impact, topography, landscaping requirements and road safety. This has left just 2 viable sites which meet all the requirements of the planning officers, and which the parish council asked local residents to consider as part of the consultation. These two sites are:

Site A – the field at the corner of Plough Lane and Gaydon Road

Site B – the field to the south of Lodge Bungalow, Station Road

Full details of all the sites which were considered, and the reasons why they were discounted can be found in the pdf document to the right of this page "Affordable Housing - Supplementary Information".

Won't this open up the possibility of building further houses for private sale?

The parish council is working with its partner organisations to find a suitable site for 12 affordable homes only. However, there is nothing to prevent local landowners from offering their land to a developer to build market housing either now or in the future. Following the change of Government in May 2010, national housing quotas and planning policies are being reviewed but under current local planning policy, before any consideration can be given to building market housing, it would be necessary for the landowner or developer to prove a local need for such housing exists. Planning permission would also be required from Stratford District Council. The possibility of a planning application for market housing exists whether or not any affordable homes are built.

What happens when a site is finally chosen?

It is important to remember that the public consultation is only aimed at identifying your preferred location at this stage. When the final location is decided, plans will be prepared and a formal planning application will be made to Stratford District Council. A formal period of public consultation will follow which will allow local residents to make their views known in full to the planning authority. The homes will only be built if planning permission is granted by Stratford District Council.

The results of the consultation will be published in Scene, on the parish council website and on the parish council notice board at the corner of the Post Office in due course.

The closing date for this consultation was 21 February 2011.

Many thanks to all those residents who completed the questionnaires. We will bring you the results as soon as they are available.

Downloads:
Affordable Housing - Supplementary Information (735KB PDF) | Housing Needs Survey 2003 (528KB PDF) | Housing Needs Survey 2007 (325KB PDF) | Affordable Homes Open Day Report 31 May 2008 (2272KB PDF) | Report on Plough Lane/Gaydon Road Public Consultation November 2009 (2338KB PDF) | Affordable Housing Keeps Villages Alive published by the National Housing Federation (3775KB PDF) | Report and Analysis of Affordable Housing Public Consultation February 2011 (1150KB PDF) | Help with PDFs

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Bishop's Itchington Parish Council

Brewster's Corner
Pendicke Street
Southam
Warwickshire
CV47 1PN

Office tel: 01926 811394

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