Report proposes 64,100 houses for West Sussex by 2026
Commenting on the publication of the Examination in Public Panel Report on the South East Plan which proposes that 64,100 houses should be built in West Sussex over the course of the next twenty years, or 3,205 per annum, Arundel & South Downs MP Nick Herbert said:
"Increasing housing numbers at atime when vital infrastructure, such as our hospitals, is being downgraded cannot make sense.
"We do need more affordable housing, especially for young people trying to get their foot on the property ladder, but these decisions should be made by local councils, not imposed by top-down targets from the Government."
Ends
Notes to Editors
1. The Examination in Public Panel Report can be found at http://www.go-se.gov.uk/gose/planning/regionalPlanning/ThePanelReport/?a=42496.
2. The Examination in Public Panel Report's proposals of 64,100 new houses in West Sussex between 2006 and 2026 represent an increase of 10.5 per cent on the figures proposed by the draft South East Plan, which envisaged 58,000 houses, or 2,900 per annum, for the county over the next twenty years.
3. The breakdown of the Examination in Public Panel Report's housing totals by local authority is as follows
Local Authority
Number of houses to be built by 2026
Adur District Council
3,600
Arun District Council
11,300
Chichester District Council
9,600
Crawley Borough Council
7,500
Horsham District Council
13,000
Mid Sussex District Council
15,100
Worthing Borough Council
4,000
West Sussex County Council
64,100
4. The Report, prepared by an independent Panel of Planning Inspectors, forms part of the process of drawing up the Regional Spatial Strategy for the South East (The South East Plan).
5. The draft South East Plan was submitted to the Government by the South East England Regional Assembly (SEERA) in March 2006, with the Examination in Public taking place between November 2006 and March 2007.
6. Hazel Blears, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, will now consider the Report, along with all of the representations previously submitted, and will aim to publish her proposed changes towards the end of the year. There will then be a twelve week period of public consultation on the proposed changes.
7. Following consideration of comments and views arising from that consultation, the Secretary of State is expected to publish the final South East Plan in the autumn of 2008.