SPECIAL REPORT: Crawley housing plan explained

LAST week, the News reported on council plans to build more than 200 "affordable" homes on 14 sites across Crawley.

To find space, town hall chiefs announced a scheme to reclaim gardens which have been leased to houses for many years.

Reporter ALEX MORRISON examines what this could mean for Crawley neighbourhoods.

What has happened so far?

Crawley Borough Council has identified space for 219 homes (a mixture of flats and houses) at 14 town locations.

Last Wednesday, the council's executive committee approved plans to sell the land at discounted rates to registered social landlords, non-profit organisations which build affordable homes.

No planning applications have been made yet but a council report says some of the sites are "close" to doing this.

What happens next?

The decision to sell the sites has been made.

Opposition councillors chose not to "call in" the decision, meaning it would have been discussed by the full council.

Social landlords can now offer to buy the sites. Any sites not bought will carry on in their current uses.

Social landlords buying sites have to submit plans which meet all planning rules on issues including access and impact on the neighbourhood.

 

To see the exact locations of the 14 sites, click HERE

Can I object?

Sort of. The decision to sell the land has been made. However, when planning applications come forward for specific sites, objections can be sent to the council. Objections must focus on planning issues, not a general dislike of the plan.

Residents with Garden Licence Agreements, where gardens have been leased to tenants by the council, cannot stop the authority selling the land to developers. Gardens were leased from the council and can be reclaimed.

Why do we need these developments?

Government targets mean 7,500 homes must be built in Crawley from 2006 to 2026.

The council's own targets say at least 40 per cent of these should be "affordable" - homes for people on low or middle incomes who cannot afford to buy at market rates.

The council is currently on track for the 2026 target. However, almost 3,000 people are on the waiting list for affordable homes in Crawley.

Town hall bosses say the recession has all but stopped private housing developments, which normally make up two thirds of new affordable homes.

They claim the number of new affordable homes will drop to "zero" if no action is taken.

Why can't we build on land around Crawley?

The boundaries of Crawley hug the edges of the town.

For example, land east of the M23 falls within to Mid-Sussex and fields west of Bewbush and Ifield are part of Horsham district.

As a result, the west of Bewbush plan, which will effectively create a 14th Crawley neighbourhood, counts towards Horsham's housing target.

All this means the 7,500 homes must be built inside Crawley's existing boundaries.

The council is currently fighting against plans for almost 2,000 homes north of Pound Hill, saying the area would be too noisy if a second runway was ever built at Gatwick.

TOWN HALL BOSSES EXPLAIN PLANS

COUNCILLORS have defended plans to meet housing targets by building on dozens of town gardens.

Last week, angry residents spoke to the News about plans for 14 new housing developments across Crawley.

At a meeting last Wednesday night, top Crawley Borough Council members said space must be found for new affordable homes.

Council leader Bob Lanzer said: "If we did very little or precisely nothing we could soon be in a position where we are contributing no new affordable homes.

"We are using a number of methods to bring forward affordable housing but we are seriously challenged."

Cllr Lanzer told the meeting it could be difficult to get planning permission for some of the developments.

He said: "There aren't many of these sites that don't have challenges to face in planning terms."

Cllr Claire Denman, cabinet member for planning and economic development, added: "One thing we mustn't lose sight of is that we have got about 3,000 people on our housing waiting list at the moment.

"As a local authority we have got to show real leadership on this."