Fareham Council’s announcement that 2,000 more homes than planned will be needed in the Borough by 2036 should not mean we will lose all our open spaces. Labour believes that with sympathetic planning the town can still remain a good place to live.
Labour supports the Welborne development. We believe that this new community is needed in Fareham to supply much needed housing to reduce the housing waiting list and allow our young people to be able to still live and work in the area. Without it our children and grandchildren will be forced away from Fareham to seek affordable housing.
However we believe that during detailed planning housing provision should be improved. It is our view that the provision for affordable housing proposed in the consultation document is inadequate. We believe that a mix of both affordable and social housing is necessary which should equate to 50% of the overall development. Such housing must include a high proportion of shared ownership, housing association, council and co-operative ownership. A key requirement is that there is long-term security of tenure for residents. Labour believes that the increase in the proportion of affordable / social housing is needed to help alleviate the housing waiting list which is currently at 2000. Our proposals will allow enough housing to help low and medium income families get good housing and still give provision for those who aspire to more expensive / larger housing.
The call for 2,000 more homes to be provided in the Borough by the extended time scale of 10 years is achievable. We are against building on the strategic gaps and the last pieces of green open spaces. The Hallam Development south of Longfield Avenue and the proposal for housing at Cranleigh Road are examples of development we oppose. We do support development of brown field sites. There are plenty of examples of potential land that could be used to build the required numbers by 2036. Examples are the unused warehousing at Wicor in Portchester and the magistrates court in the town centre which is due to close. There are many other sites which will become available in the next 20 years. What the Council needs to do is draw-up a development plan for the extra housing so we can find the land needed without resorting to building on open space.