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Housing
The unelected and unaccountable South East England Regional Assembly intends to impose 58,000 new houses (a town the size of Crawley) on West Sussex over the next 20 years – an annual average of 2,900.
Nick, like many local people, is concerned that the county does not have the infrastructure to support development on this scale. West Sussex is already experiencing serious water shortages. Local hospitals are under threat and are shutting wards and cutting back services. Key roads such as the A27 urgently need upgrading.
Our infrastructure is struggling to cope with the county’s existing population, let alone many thousands more.
With the average home in the South East now costing nearly £240,000 and the typical deposit having risen dramatically in the last ten years, Nick acknowledges the severe problems facing many first-time buyers and key workers.
He does not, however, believe that the solution to this problem is unwanted large scale development slapped onto West Sussex.
If we are to meet the needs of first-time buyers and key workers, there must be affordable housing in suitable and sustainable locations, determined not by unelected and unaccountable regional planners, but by our own democratically elected local councils who know and understand the areas they represent.
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