Survey of accomodation in the South Lakeland District

I've just filled a very thorough survey that SLDC have commissioned in order to determine the housing needs in their area.

They have it as an important issue to find housing for local people so providing as much information as we can will put pressure on them to enact helpful policies

The survey is being conducted here.

It's your chance to inform the council of what the needs in this area really are - particularly in reference to the need for affordable housing.

It occurs to me that it may be a way of alerting them about second homes and holiday cottages - fill it in as though you were the owner - the information on the property should still be valid.

Affordable Housing - a worrying opinion

In an article that mentions the potential for building Affordable  Houses over and over again, I read a worrying comment:

Jonathan Denby, Grange resident and a leading hotelier, said: “I would welcome any development because new housing would help Grange remain a thriving community and keep the post office and primary school open and keep our facilities going. 

“But I would very much hope that builders are allowed to build the houses they want to build and I would strongly urge the council to relax its rules on affordable housing, otherwise none of this will go ahead.” 

This is the kind of thing our conservative councillors could well support.

Whilst worries about flooding, roads and sewage are the concern of Cllr Norman Bishop-Rowe , it would be good to hear an assurance that everything possible will be done to ensure that large numbers of affordable housing are built here in Ulverston. Not only this but that Cllrs will take every step possible to make sure that the houses designated in this way go to the people they are intended for.


They could start now by checking out what has happened to the alleged 80 odd affordable houses that have been built in the last 5 years

I am still struggling to get more information from the officer in the planning department - Tony Whittaker - who has this information - one has to be doggedly persistent.

A request to his researcher on the 18th November has achieved little:

"But I remember seeing a more detailed breakdown in the past of exactly when and where this housing was built.

Can you help me?"

I'll have to try again.

Finding out the Affordable Housing figures. It's not easy.

Email to Alastair McNeill on Nov9:

Could you please refer this email to the person who can point out to me
the place on the SLDC web site which lists the number of affordable
houses that have actually been built in its area, year by year.

In particular I'm interested in the figures for those that have been
built within the Ulverston boundary since 2006

I am being told by someone who may be badly informed that 79 have been
built since 2006 which surprises me.

This leads to:

From: McNeill, Alastair
Sent: 10 November 2010 08:49
To: Whittaker, Tony
Subject: FW: Affordable Housing

Tony

Are you able to assist?

Alastair

Which leads to:

From: Whittaker, Tony
Sent: 11- Nov- 10 11:24
To: Rayner, Jenna
Cc: McNeill, Alastair
Subject: RE: Affordable Housing


Jenna

Please can you put the attached on the website (on the Housing Strategy
page - Housing > Strategy & Policy) and email Mr Dellow (see below) when
it is on.


Tony Whittaker

Which leads to:

Mr Dellow,

I have been asked to email you to inform you that there is information
available on the Council's website at
http://www.southlakeland.gov.uk/services/housing/strategy-and-policy.aspx

If you have any further queries please do not hesitate to contact the
Development Strategy team at developmentplans@southlakeland.gov.uk or
phone 01539 717490

Kind regards

Jenna Rayner

If you look on this page you will see "New Affordable Housing in South Lakeland"

Anonymous was unable to give me a reference because it wasn't on the sldc web site originally.

The figures he quotes are there.

I am now trying to determine the make up of the figures for Ulverston.

........
We'll get there.

I may even try to find out how these houses are allocated and what follow up checks are made.

It will be good for a skeptic like me to be reassured that the system really works as well as is made out.

Now for that town clock!

Here's a tough choice - Affordable Housing or allotments?

But at least this council is doing something to deal with a crisis.

As someone who enjoys my allotment, I'd still favour giving it up so that we could have some cheap housing.

Plots for allotments would be easier to find than plots for affordable houses.

I'd be in favour of building on the Garden Terrace site which should provide good foundations and extending the plot down at South Ulverston which is good soil for growing but unacceptable for building.

But can you ever think of our Town Council coming up with such a scheme.

No way.

That lot of wimps wouldn't have the balls.

( This could be more 'politely' be expressed as 'Those weak and unadventurous people are too emasculated'. Is this more acceptable?)

These are tough times needing tough decision makers.

I can see the councillors already running for cover.

Affordable Housing - again

The anonymous commenter recently asserted that I had my facts wrong. I asked him to provide the source of his figures which suggested that proportionately Ulverston had had more built than Kendal.

I'm still waiting.

For my part I've been searching and the figures that I've found bear me out.

Look here at the Local Housing Needs Surveys  (updated May 2010) at the bottom

Kendal, population (Wikipedia) 27,505  needs 455

Whereas Ulverston , population (Wiki) 11,200 needs 300

If Ulverston was as well provided for as Kendal proportionately, it would only need 185

Thus, Ulverston is in far greater need of Affordable Housing than Kendal.

If you think of 300 houses that's about four streets full.

Furthermore if you look here you will see that Kendal is to have 23 affordable houses and 40 flats built whilst Ulverston is to have . . . none.

So there's no doubt that we're  in need of Affordable Houses and I still maintain that many of those given planning permission at Fairview should have been affordable.

The result would have been a better mix of housing than an all retirement development and just a few of the desperately needed low income houses would have been provided.

It's not surprising that one councillor voiced his concerns Sadly he wasn't an Ulverston Councillor:

"A SOUTH Lakeland councillor has voiced concerns over affordable housing after plans were passed for 40 new retirement apartments in Ulverston.

Coun Phillip Dixon, SLDC’s Liberal Democrat representative for the Kendal Highgate ward, expressed concerns that the region was “only a place for the affluent” after the decision made by SLDC’s Planning Commitee omitted the councils strategy to include affordable housing in new building schemes.

Councillors approved othe outline plans to build 40 retirement apartments at Fair View House, on Daltongate.

 However, under SLDC’s core strategy, in all schemes of nine or more dwellings, 35 per cent should be made affordable - unless councillors waive the strategy.

Coun Dixon voiced his concerns after the provision to include 35 per cent of the development as affordable housing was not adhered to."

So what does anon say to that. I'll publish the response if any - just this once!

One wicked thought has occurred to me: What if anon is really Phil Lister having a go at Geoff and he, as a Labour Councillor, doesn't want to be seen as letting developers off the hook from building affordable homes. Let's see what the real Phil Lister has to say.

Retirement villages - what do you think?

 On the surface a retirement village appears and attractive option - there are plenty of commercial companies pushing the concept.

I'd suggest there is a significant negative side to the concept. Would you look forward to living in one?

There are already several building areas devoted to housing older people in Ulverston and although they have some advantages. How do people enjoy living in them? Would it not be far better if houses in real streets were converted to suit the needs of the old?

Do the people living in pockets of old people lose the perspective of living in a community with a wide variety of occupancy.

Most of their days and lives is spent with others in a similar situation. It can be very depressing with a high proportion steadily declining to death.

An alternative is to have contact and being a part of raising very young children. Older people have time to spend and enjoy being part of the lives of youngsters as they discover the world. Friendships can be developed that can enrich both lives.

Older people have a lot of wisdom and knowledge to share which benefits both the recipient and the giver and leads to the old folk having a sense of self esteem.

It is good for us oldies to feel we can contribute to the enjoyment of others. This contribution can be very real - offering babysitting for the hard pressed parent - walking home-bound dogs for people out at work. Being a source of expertise from our previous and current lives as the old explore new areas of learning with the time available to them. They might even persuade a thirty year old to get involved with being a councillor!

Thus there's a lot that can be said against the concept of bundling one section of society all together. We need close contact with each other so we have immediate knowledge of other peoples lives rather than a remote TV newspaper glance at their world.

So escaping from the responsibility of building affordable housing has led to a poverty of human contact for those that will come and live at Fairview. Has not a great opportunity been missed with a second rate existence for those that come to live there.

A quick look at the internet lists some of the advantages of supporting oldies (pardon, seniors)  in their existing houses rather than moving them:

• It fosters community continuity, which means the senior can continue to frequent their usual grocery store, drugstore or other places in which they are comfortable shopping and asking for help
• It maintains valuable social networks,  often keeping contact with neighbors and friends that live nearby
• It has a way of strengthening family and family ties
• It promotes physical and mental well-being, just be continuing to keep the senior in a home where they often have raised their family

Perhaps there was a case for affordable housing at Fair View,  Ulverston after all!

Entrepreneurs at the ready

I believe the possibility of a direct train service from London to Ulverston has great potential to someone with a bit of flair.

This has just been reported in the Gazette and is still only a possibility.

Those interested in profiting from tourists would do well to think around the possibility of providing a service for holiday makers who could travel direct to us in a few hours without having to change.

This could be families trying to avoid a long journey in a car with kids screaming on the back.

Instead a comfortable ride by train and being met at the station with a hirer car with hotel/self catering accommodation lined up here or just outside Ulverston.

This is what I offered when I ran The Falls self catering cottages and I had a few takers.

Now set yourself the task of reaching possible holiday makers using the internet - web sites, youtube, blogs, Twitter so that they come to Ulverston.

With considerable imagination you can target a possible market. It will be I imagine very 'up market' and hence profitable.

To do this don't think 'Ulverston' but the things you can do within thirty miles and then let your targets discover that they can do this and stay in Ulverston. T use the internet to reach people, you have to imagine what they would be using Google to search for - it won't be Ulverston - they've not even heard of it.

If you're interested in pursuing these ideas seriously - contact me - we could do with a small group who brainstorm ideas to find some that could work!

Affordable Housing

Should we be disturbed by a comment reported by the Evening Mail.

Ulverston desperately needs affordable housing for young people to be able to own a house of their own. The numbers that have been built under this scheme in the last five year are less than ten and even many of these have ended up in the hands of people who the scheme was not meant for.

By contrast the numbers of affordable houses that have been built in the same period in Kendal is well over a hundred.

The developers have been squeezing under the regulations that said that developments with ten houses had to have a substantial number of homes that were 'affordable'. Thus they built nine : Taylor's Court and Upper Brook street.

Now we have just given planning approval for 40 retirement apartments at Fairview House, Dalton Gate.

What desturbs me is what the planning officer said:

"Ms Lawson told the meeting that the council normally required such a development to feature an affordable housing element, but said the applicant had indicated that such a condition would not be viable.

Ms Lawson said the overall benefits of the project outweighed that problem."

Thus if a developer states that complying with planning regulations on affordable housing "is not viable"then the Council just waves the regulations.

What chance do we have of ever having a substantial number of affordable houses built.

What seems to be said here is that it's fine for an outside developer to come to Ulverston to make money building houses for well off people from the South who fancy retiring here.

What are the benefits for Ulverstonians?

Retired people aren't big spenders and we have additional people here that will put demands on our services - roads, drains, sewage, police and especially services for the aging: doctors, nursing and hospitals. Then when they can't cope in their houses they will need special care in our care units and assessment units.

Meanwhile young people and those without wealthy parents to get them on the housing ladder have to live in poor housing at a time when jobs will be increasingly scarce.

Is this the kind of Ulverston we want to encourage?

Tell me I'm being pessimistic and there's a bright side.

Or perhaps I've got my facts wrong.

I'd be grateful.

July 1 2008 - Aha!

I had been talking of organising a meeting to provide information and discussing Affordable Housing Action since November 2007.

My first approach was to do this through the Neighbourhood Forum but they blocked this approach which had two results:

It nudged me towards becoming a County Councillor

To organise a meeting in the Old Friends on July 1st which was advertised around town by posters.