Sunday, December 04, 2011

Houses aren't evil

I caught a trailer for Channel 4 News the other day where the journalist was on a building site and said something like 'a rare sight in Britain, a house being built'. Except it's not that rare, in Basildon at least. We have had a steady stream of housebuilding down the years, and that has continued though the latest downturn in the economy. This is a good thing. Construction has a long supply chain, so and keeps a great many people in work, including the not insignificant number of builders and building suppliers in Basildon. There is also the simple fact that people actually need homes to live in. This should be obvious, but somehow and to some people it doesn't seem to be. We have an expanding population and our sons and daughters need somewhere to live. So, we need homes for starters, some social and affordable, some private, and then we need homes for those moving up the economic ladder, because we don't want to lose them to other communities. As per the title, houses aren't evil, but from some of the rhetoric applied to them you would have thought that they were.

Of course, the key point with housing is where you build it. In Basildon we haven't built on the Green Belt, preferring to keep in our current urban footprints. That doesn't mean blocks of little flats by the way. In fact, builders tell me that the best returns at the moment are from high quality family homes. However, the problem with a policy of building on land in the urban areas that is not Green Belt is the proximity of other homes, which often means objections. Some of these are justified, some are not, and some are put in terms that living next door to a newly built home leads to the destruction of mind, body and spirit. Houses really aren't evil.

It comes down to this. We need more homes, in Basildon and elsewhere, but we don't want to turn our semi-rural community into an urban sprawl. Local Labour's policy is 'not one brick'. It really is. They don't want any building anywhere. As far as they are concerned if you want a new home in Basildon, whether you are on the social housing waiting list or a company director, you can just shove off. Apparently, Basildon is perfect in every way you see. It's full. Move along. That this is crackers doesn't seem to deter them.

Meanwhile the grown-ups are getting on with managing actual growth, because the whole country needs it right now.

I don't know where Channel 4 were filming, but it wasn't around here.

6 comments:

Christine Downey said...

If you don't want to turn Basildon into an urban sprawl why are you and you ilk so intent on building on every piece of green space, and green belt that falls beneath your eyes? Why don't you turn Wickford and Billericay into urban sprawls? Lerave the parks and playing-fields of Basildon for the people of Basildon.

Steve Horgan said...

There has been exactly one piece of Green Belt development in the last 10 years in Basildon Borough, which only happened because the Council lost the Planning Application on appeal.

The only playing field that it is proposed to be built on has been re-provided elsewhere, and building does go on in Billericay and Wickford as well. Including in my own ward of Billericay West.

Don't just buy the propaganda, find out the facts for yourself.

Like everything else, this is a judgement call and a balance has to be struck. But people, Basildon people, need somewhere to live. We also need housing in and around our town centres if they are not to decline. Bluntly, if the Council did nothing then our Borough could easily slip into decline, with a chorus of people shouting at us because we hadn't done anything about it.

Colin Clarke said...

Whilst it is easy to blame Labour for lack of housing, you may have seen my comments regarding the illegally undersized gardens in parts of Basildon, especially Ghyllgrove. The then Corporation said that "Every neighbourhood has been built with public parkland contained within it. Every house is a very short walk from open space." However, it has not escaped me that you say "Building does go on in Billericay and Wickford as well." This has surprised me. Which particular parks in these two districts of Basildon are affected in this way? Lake Meadows? Wickford memorial park? I appreciate that people have to have somewhere to live, but Gloucester Park has suffered more than it's fair share of losses. The County Court, the massive sports centre, not forgetting the attempt to sell some of the Park to a local football club! People living in my area are not only losing in this way, we are also to lose the open space in Audley Way, according to the town plan. Insulting my party of choice will not pacify me over the loss of the one item that marked the East London slum clearence. Open space!

mikeyp said...

The idea of not building in greenbelt just because it is labelled greenbelt is flawed.

There are many areas of greenbelt around Basildon that nobody would really think were in greenbelt, but are. The most notable are the abundant plotland areas around the district.

I live in one such area, and whilst we have some trees and the plots are larger than average, we have to suffer bad roads, poorer services, fly-tipping, the worry of further traveller development, and the mess that is the spaces between developed plots.

We are prohibited from extending our houses despite having plenty of space to do so, yet can develop large outbuildiongs so long as they are 12 ft from the main dwelling.

Surely filling in these already developed areas with similar properties would make much more sense than building on parks?

mikeyp said...

The idea of not building in greenbelt just because it is labelled greenbelt is flawed.

There are many areas of greenbelt around Basildon that nobody would really think were in greenbelt, but are. The most notable are the abundant plotland areas around the district.

I live in one such area, and whilst we have some trees and the plots are larger than average, we have to suffer bad roads, poorer services, fly-tipping, the worry of further traveller development, and the mess that is the spaces between developed plots.

We are prohibited from extending our houses despite having plenty of space to do so, yet can develop large outbuildiongs so long as they are 12 ft from the main dwelling.

Surely filling in these already developed areas with similar properties would make much more sense than building on parks?

Steve Horgan said...

I agree that we need to find a means to allow some increased development on plotlands, without opening the floodgates on the wider expanses of greenbelt. Getting that done against current planning law is quite difficult, however. Hopefully the forthcoming LDF process will let us find a way.