Stevenage homes plan buffeted by regional planning row

The future of Stevenage Borough Council’s plan to build 20,000 homes is uncertain, following the Planning Inspectorate’s ruling that its draft core strategy is “unsound”. The Hertfordshire town is designated as a key housing and employment growth point in the regional spatial strategy, the East of England Plan, which was adopted in May 2008.

This strategy relied upon the extension of the town’s boundaries and the construction of at least 9,600 homes in the neighbouring North Hertfordshire district. However, last month the inspector found that, although the draft core strategy conforms with the East of England Plan, North Hertfordshire District Council no longer has to co-operate with Stevenage Borough Council because it has the right to take into account the government’s proposed abolition of regional-level planning.

The planning inspector’s report will be considered by Stevenage council over the summer. A report will be submitted to the council’s executive committee in September and a formal decision about the withdrawal of the draft core strategy will be made in early October.

Stevenage will need to draw up a new core strategy, but this is likely to be after the Localism Bill has passed so the implications of the new legislation can be assessed. North Hertfordshire council suspended work on the residential expansion in June and was keen to set its own targets that could be lower than the proposed 9,600 units. Stevenage continued with the preparation of its core strategy.

The planning inspector concluded that North Hertfordshire council’s decision meant Stevenage council’s proposals were no longer viable, and consequently the strategy was unsound. A High Court ruling last month has further complicated the situation. Cala Homes challenged the decision, arguing that it was unlawful.

Cala had objected to Communities and Local Government secretary Eric Pickles’ plans to revoke regional spatial strategies, following the rejection of its 2,000-home scheme in Winchester. Shortly afterwards, councils received a letter from Communities and Local Government, telling them to revoke the strategies through the Localism Bill as a “material consideration”, even though the Localism Bill has not yet received royal assent. Cala again challenged this.

Last month the High Court ruled that the proposed abolition of the regional spatial strategies was a material consideration in development control decisions, but that it would be unlawful to take it into account when reviewing or updating plans.

Report on Housing Futures Option Appraisal Meeting | Stevenage ...

I was at the briefing for leaseholders on the future of Stevenage Homes. Because of changes in the rules laid out by central Government, Stevenage Borough Council are considering taking back direct management of the housing stock currently owned by Stevenage Homes.

The meeting was not well attended. Probably because of a mix up in notifying leaseholders about the meeting. I received an email, but several people, including Jo Martins the Leaseholder rep on the Stevenage Homes board only found out about the meeting by chance.

Two options are being considered, both are new. You can download a PDF file of the slides from the presentation. . (271 kb)

Points made at the meeting were as follows:

There are no estimates of the cost of the two options given. Winding up Stevenage Homes would result in redundancies, one would likely be the recently appointed head of Stevenage Homes. This would not be cheep.

Any costs would likely involve redundancies it was too sensitive to be made public.

What are the breakdown of these figures?

These are not yet available to the public, but will be in the future.

The models of management structure show no indication of authority or lines of responsibility.

The actual management structure will be made later.

The last two points of the appraisal looks biased to the point of view of Stevenage Borough Council. The whole point of the ALMO (Arms Length Management Organisation) was to prevent politicians using housing to meet their “wider objectives.”

Shrugs….

Will Stevenage Borough Council be able to use rent money for things other than housing?

No.

Will the savings be used for housing?