Sussex council leaders call for ‘more realistic’ housing targets

SussexWorld – which comprises JPIMedia’s Sussex newspaper titles – wrote to our county’s district and borough council leaders seeking their reply to our campaign.

The initiative calls for stronger protection for our greenfield sites and greater powers for councils to determine their own housing needs and annual targets.

This is what leaders had to say:

Wealden

Bob Standley, leader of Wealden District Council, said the authority had been lobbying the government for ‘some time’ over a target which now amounted to more than 1,200 homes a year for the next 20 years.

He added: “Despite having over 7,500 unbuilt permissions granted they don’t all count to our five-year housing land supply, which means further planning permission are required to be granted.

“Our lobbying has been enhanced with the support of several parish councils in Wealden. Nus Ghani, MP for Wealden, also initiated a Westminster Hall debate in Parliament to highlight the issue.”

Wealden met with Secretary of State Michael Gove before Christmas last year and also previously met former housing minister Christopher Pincher.

Mr Standley called for a change to the way housing targets are calculated.

He said: “Wealden’s housing numbers at 1,221 a year for the next 20 years are simply too high especially, given that over 60% of Wealden District is protected.

“The protected areas include Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty including the Ashdown Forest, part of South Downs National Park and the Pevensey levels.”

Adur

Adur District Council leader Neil Parkin joined the call for looking again at housing targets.

He said: “Housing targets should be realistic.

“Also the infrastructure needed should be put in first. Local communities need to see something for them and their area before building starts.”

Eastbourne

David Tutt, leader of Eastbourne Borough added: “Top down housing targets are unsophisticated and even the government seem to be getting the message. There needs to be a greater support for brownfield sites and innovative use of space.

“Telling local communities that they need to deliver a target produced by an algorithm is not going to fix the housing system.”

Worthing

Kevin Jenkins, leader of Worthing Borough Council, previously said he was ‘angry’ the government ‘refuses to see sense on this issues’ – click here for the full story.

Responding to our campaign, he said: “It is well recognised that housing demand in the South East is outstripping supply, yet with so many planning applications granted to private development companies a growing number of people are questioning why they are not building out at a greater pace to meet the demand, or is it simply that by limiting supply they maintain a higher price point?

“Worthing faces its own challenges trapped between the sea and the South Downs. We will never be able to meet our own estimate of housing need, let alone the imposed targets set by central government.

“Local planning is not just about building homes, it is about building communities, providing good quality homes, in well-planned environments that provide the space for people to live healthily.

“We should not simply build on all our green spaces just because we can, or a national planning inspector says we should. Good local planning for growth starts with a ‘local plan’ created locally, influenced by interested local people who understand the area, its need and competing demands. The current top-down approach to national housing provision needs revisiting before our towns become continuous concrete conurbations and our precious green spaces are lost forever.”

Mid Sussex

Jonathan Ash-Edwards, leader of Mid Sussex District Council, wrote to Secretary of State Michael Gove in February.

His letter expressed ‘grave concerns’ about the way housing targets were calculated.

Setting out the problems in Mid Sussex, he wrote: “After years of speculative development this council secured a district plan in 2018.

“Since then, we have taken more growth than any other council in Sussex.

“We have already permitted and planned for over 16,500 new homes up to 2031 including the delivery of 3,500 new homes in partnership with Homes England in Burgess Hill.

“We are now required by government to review our plan using the standardised housing methodology. This expects Mid Sussex to find a further 7,000 new homes up to 2038, before the unmet need in the wider area has been considered.

“This hike in the number of homes we are required to find will make it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to secure a new plan.”

Horsham

Development plans in Horsham district have taken a hit due to water supply issues – click here for more details.

Council leader Jonathan Chowen said: “We recognise the need for new homes for local people and for economic growth but a careful balance is needed between protecting the environment and meeting our development requirements.

“Horsham District Council is not currently able to meet its housing requirements because of the pressure additional demands on drinking water are having on internationally protected habitats and species in our district.

“Whilst we want and need some development, we are not prepared to put the environment at risk so we are working hard to find solutions to the issue of water neutrality.

“What is particularly disappointing is that whilst we and our other local authority colleagues are doing all we can to find solutions as quickly as possible, that I read of the vast quantities of untreated sewage that is being allowed to flow into our water courses and sea.

“We need to work together with the water companies, Natural England, OFWAT and DEFRA to find a joined-up solution that allows homes and jobs to come forward for local people but not at the expense of our beautiful natural environment.”

Brighton and Hove

Councillor Martin Osborne, who sits on Brighton and Hove City Council’s housing committee, responded to our campaign and agreed that instead of targets, local councils and communities need a greater say in planning.

He said: “It’s plain to see that restrictive planning laws and housebuilding targets favour developers, not communities and affordable housing. The amount of affordable housing we can legally request of developers, for example, is defined by national standards, not local need.

“If councils reject government demands for housebuilding, they risk intervention from the Secretary of State and the whole city becoming a developer free-for-all.

“Unfortunately, this means we are forced to allocate sites, including greener sites, that we don’t wish to – in order to fulfil the government’s housing targets.

“It’s an impossible bind: allocate spaces to meet government imposed housing targets, or have more development forced upon us by government.

“Instead of targets, local councils and communities need a greater say in planning.

“The government’s obsession with housing targets is a distraction from the long-term failure by government to address ballooning developer profit, soaring house prices, high rents, low wages, and the impact of policies like ‘right to buy’ on social and affordable housing.”

* This article will be updated with leaders’ responses as we receive them.

Our campaign so far

See our launch piece on our campaign and why we launched it here

MPs have given their view on the campaign. See their thoughts here

And readers have written in support of our campaign, too. Click here for the full story.

As part of our campaign, we are producing a series of explainers on the planning system to aid understanding about what can sometimes be a complex subject. See our first piece on planning applications here