As we get to come to terms with the reality of thousands of new houses in and around Faversham which are apparently necessary to meet the estimated “housing need” identified by government approved consultants, it seems appropriate to ask whether this rash of new builds will help our local families in need of housing.
A brief survey of the newly built houses for sale at the bigger developments in and around the town all seem to be beyond the means of a family on an average income without the wherewithal to pay a large deposit.
In the next issue of Faversham Eye we will report in greater depth about the scale of the problem, what is meant by “affordable housing” and to what extent is Swale Borough Council is able to help.
We would be pleased to hear from families and individuals who find themselves unable to find affordable and suitable housing. Please contact us via favershameye@outlook.com
STOP PRESS - BATS IN THE BELLWAY!
Bellway Homes (who are the developers behind the large new housing site on the Whitstable Road) were this week fined £600,000 for carrying out demolition work at a site known to be inhabited by bats – the largest such penalty a court has ever handed out for a wildlife crime, police say.
Bellway had been informed in advance in the planning documents that if it wished to work on the site, then it would need the appropriate mitigation and license. However, the developers went ahead without these permissions.
They also had to pay £30,000 costs.
So, bang go their profits on the equivalent of about 12 of the new houses in the Faversham housing estate.
Bellway state on their company website under the heading of Corporate Responsibility
“the protection of the environment and climate change are two significant challenges that industry and society as a whole face. At Bellway we aim to minimise the harmful effect our new sites have on these two important aspects through adopting a sustainable approach to our operations……. and our work in areas such as biodiversity issues on development land.”
So that’s OK then.
Comments