How we can meet our housing needs

I am wondering if members of the planning committee ever see the points I have made? I have asked questions without getting answers.

If the council have so much correspondence they can not answer letters, then they need to become a bit more professional and employ someone who can answer some points on policy planning I have suggested, as well as the fact that I was there when Wealden Council passed a motion on climate emergency. We still see developers putting in plans to suit themselves regardless of the people of the areas. May I ask, why we are not looking into having a Metro rail line from Polegate to Horam?

Why are we not including in applications some local work units so residents don’t have to travel to work? Where are the youth clubs, and older people’s drop-in centres? The big issue is having care complexes in all large developments run by a local council or setting up a trust.

We should consider a different approach to new applications, by capping land values at no more than ten times agricultural value, creating a Community Land Trust.

Employ developers to build what is needed, not what they want to sell on the market, add say £15,000 to each house to go to the trust to be able to underwrite the loans to the occupants. They would then have £300,000 in hand for every 20 houses. Anyone having a default would need to move on, but any debt would be covered by the trust, and one could add a few thousand to the next sale if there was a case to replace the capital spent. That would be real affordable housing.

Laurence Keeley

Fairfield,

Hertsmonceux