The Truth Gets Out Sooner Or later

[craig finton]

So now we know. Well done you guys.

http://www.hartlepoolpost.co.uk

[marky]

What the f*c*?

It wouldn't surprise me at all if this guy was sending his xmas cards out in brown envelopes this year.

[Mr Mister]

I would have, If I was the developer, I notice another party leading is having leanings towards the property game.


I hate people thinking they have outsmarted us because they have the benefit of information at that time that lets them mislead us..


The whole gypsy site saga at Hart, was the smoke screen for scrapping the plan from the outset, they knew the score better than anyone, problem they have is, we catch up quickly, once they try and move on with stage 2 of the plan.

Ever get the feeling you're being cheated, at great public cost, so a trio can coin it in, at our expense.

[Nic]

It's funny how things fall into place. Akers-Belcher stonewalled protests from Hart and if I remember wouldn't allow the decision to be referred back to the full council. If he had his own reservations then why not? Perhaps at a meeting like that he could have suggested scrapping the local plan if that's what he was thinking about - but he wasn't thinking about it then was he?

The truth is he only started to think about when his developer pals had their planning application knocked back and he tried to cover his real motives by saying it was all about the Travellers and the South Fens. How cynical can you get?

This guy's moral compass is totally f**c***. We need to get rid - and soon before he's allowed to do any more damage.

[fred c]

What a coincidence......Planning Officers must be struggling to go to work in the morning, they have been "Air Brushed" out of the decision making processes within HBC by "The Mob"

[for fawkes sake]

I think HBC can now be officially classed as a rogue council which is completely out of control.

[rabbit]

Or is it just another c**k up?

The issue may be the provision of Affordable Housing at Wynyard. The whole site must by law provide a requisite proportion of this type of housing. There is a get-out clause (which allows the builder to avoid this build-type) to give some dosh to the local council in order for them to improve their own housing stock elsewhere in the town. This has happened already at Wynyard, where there is a preference to construct more expensive, executive style properties.

Question: What happens if a socially responsible builder, comes along and wishes to construct a number of houses which will include say 25 percent of Affordable Properties (national regulations)?

Does the council give the permission, or do they say that only posh houses can be built there?

[steveL]

The planning application for Wynyard is not for 'executive housing' but for 2,3,4 bedroom houses similar to Bishop Cuthbert. The attraction to a developer is that, although the build costs will be similar to Bishop Cuthbert, the eventual selling price will be significantly higher because of the location and the proximity to the Wynyard Village 'executive' estate.

The original Local Plan classed the land as 'employment land' because it recognised that, being more or less sat on the A19, it could attract businesses that otherwise would not come to Hartlepool and that is pretty much the way it has worked out.

You're right about the 'contribution to affordable housing' and there is a provision in the planning application for this but then there is also the same provision in the plans for the South West extension which Akers-Belcher now suddenly opposes (incidentally so do the Wynyard developers).

The real 'starter homes' in Hartlepool have traditionally been Terraced Housing which are being systematically run down and flattened everywhere and being replaced with a smaller number of £110,000 'affordable housing'. Quite how that improves the housing shortage in Hartlepool has always had me baffled.

[rabbit]

Do you know if the mix of 2, 3 and 4 bedroom housing included Affordable Housing?

[Mr Mister]

It's all "affordable housing"!

Just depends what you can afford

[steveL]

The local plan calls for a 10% proportion of affordable housing. The developer is offering the equivalent of 15% which would actually be 22/23 actual houses (3.8%) with the rest as a payment to HBC. This amounts to a sizeable £2,680,000.

The full planning application can be read here.

http://www.hartlepool.gov.uk/egov_downloads/25.09.13_-_Planning_Committee_Agenda.pdf