The disappearing houses
… And something sinister has happened to all the houses built between 2006 and 2013.
They have disappeared!
Before I get on to this I should explain that in the old draft local plan the plan period was between 2006 and 2026.
The new revisions propose a plan period of 2013 to 2031.
So what has happened to all the houses that were in the old draft local plan between 2006 and 2013?
Have they been erased from the towns and villages that they were built in?
No. They simply have not been counted! This means that the figure of 18,000 is a considerable underestimate. I am not sure how many houses are now unaccounted for but I think we can assume it is several thousand. Which does rather increase the true housing hike up to well over 20,000.
I gave the council quite a blast over all this (as did other councillors including Susie Bond and Ian Thomas and a more than a dozen residents) at this morning’s development management committee meeting, which was packed with around 100 members of the public.
I also asked whether the planning inspector had recommended a housing number for the district. The chief executive indicated that he had not.
Then why I asked, does it say on the press release dated 9 March, that the planning inspector had advised on housing growth of 950 a year? This gives a clear (and totally false) impression that the council was implementing the sort of development levels that the planning inspector had told them to. …”
Scorched earth – literally.
East Devon Watch 