Agenda item

This report provides an update in respect of housing delivery and the projects currently managed by the Development & Major Projects Directorate.

The Chair invited Mr David Redgewell to address the Panel.

He wished to first of all thank John Betty for all of his help whilst he had been in the position of the Development & Major Projects Director.

He stated that it was imperative to provide a comprehensive interchange at Bath Spa Station to act as a local hub for rail, regional bus, and taxi services. As part of the development, a canopy for a covered walk-way should be erected between the adjacent bus & rail station.

Such a project can act as an example for further public transport interchanges that we are hoping to see instated at: Bristol Temple Meads, Trowbridge, Bridgwater, Weston-Super-Mare, and Filton Abbey Wood.

He added that railway land in Radstock must be protected from road/housing development. There is much support for the rapid re-instatement of the Radstock-Frome spur for passenger transit, with a meeting planned for 19:30, 14th June, Methodist Church Hall, Radstock, to develop the prospect. The region's MPs have recognised the great potential for regional connectivity in this project that Halcrow's narrow focus on the corridor to Bath & Bristol overlooked.

The road planned to cut across railway land (Victoria Hall - Charlton's Corner) must not be built. To truncate the permanent way in this manner will set-back a re-instated station from the town centre, and also deny the possibility of the former Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway being reconnected from Midsomer Norton in the South West - There is a strong desire in the S&DR Heritage Trust and New S&DJR group, among many transport planners & campaigners, to have the full Bath - Bournemouth route restored.

Planning permission for housing has not been requested, let alone granted, and Paul Crossley said publicly, "There will be no road without houses, and vice versa."

A representative of the local taxi drivers was present and asked to give a brief statement to the Panel.

He stated that the traffic lights directly outside the train station do not allow the public to easily see or access them.

The Chair offered to contact the relevant officer(s) and asked him to write an email to her with all the points he wished to raise.

The Development & Major Projects Director introduced this item to the Panel. He wished to highlight the following points from within the report.

Housing Delivery

·  Specific priorities are emerging in respect of the needs of older people, including extra-care sheltered, and addressing the accommodation needs of the gypsy and traveller communities.

·  The Core Strategy identifies a requirement for 11,500 homes between 2006-2026.About 3,000 of these can be secured as affordable housing. The vast majority of development (about 90%) will take place on brownfield sites. To date 2600 units have been delivered (an average of c430 per annum) with a further 8900 (an average of 635 per annum) required by 2026 to achieve our targets. This requires a 47% increase in annual delivery rates to achieve our targets.

Homes & Communities Agency Investment Framework 2011-15

Getting the housing market moving includes several initiatives, including:

·  £210m FirstBuy scheme – announced in March 2011 budget to help 10,000 first-time buyers

·  Bringing forward publicly held land to provide up to 100,000 new homes

·  New Build Indemnity Scheme helping 100,000 homebuyers with up to 95% mortgages

·  £420m Get Britain Building Fund to bring forward or restart stalled housing development sites, requiring delivery from June 2012 and completion of eligible dwellings by December 2014.

The Associate Director for Housing introduced the section on Housing Services. He explained that the Service had 27 performance indicators in 2011/12 and that the end of year performance, with a few exceptions, had been good. The missed targets, with the exception of indicator 13, are process targets. These were missed for a number of reasons including staff shortages (P10); unusual demand (P9); lack of demand (P13). The service is currently identifying the reasons for missing P5 & P16. In addition an action plan is being developed to ensure these targets are fully met during 2012/13.

The Chair asked how likely it was that the Council would face increased demand on their levels of homelessness in the near future.

The Associate Director for Housing replied that it was very likely.

The Chair asked if any update could be given on the Norton Radstock Economic Forum as it appeared to have been quiet for some time.

The Development & Major Projects Director replied that he was aware that some work had been on-going and would be happy to update either via email or at a later meeting of the Panel.

London Road

·  A decision on the preferred bidder for 3 & 4 Longacre has been made. Property services have notified the successful and unsuccessful bidders and are expected to instruct solicitors within the next few weeks.

·  The future of Caroline House is still being discussed between PfP and the Council and an update will follow in due course London Road budget to deliver physical regeneration £750k for 2012/13 has been provisionally approved by Council, subject to a detailed project plan being developed and taken through the standard capital approvals process (PID Group / Capital Strategy Group / Cabinet). A paper to agree the budget will be taken to the 13th June 2012 Cabinet meeting.

·  A new community group ‘The Gateway Group’ has been formed to make recommendations to the Sponsoring Cabinet Member of projects to be tested and assessed against agreed criterion. If and when approved, projects will be delivered by a delivery team headed by Development & Major Projects.

The Operations Manager introduced the section on Major Projects and Development. He said that the station works at Southgate were progressing well and were likely to be open to the public in the autumn of 2012. He added that taxis do and will continue to get priority at the lights outside of the station.

He informed the Panel that the temporary crossing for Victoria Bridge was now open.

Councillor Will Sandry wished to thank the officers concerned on behalf of the community for their efforts in hastening the opening alongside those associated with Crest.