Council Land Disposals – Gooshays Gardens and Hall Lane Pitch and Putt
Residents have asked us why the council are making land disposals to allow small housing developments when this may upset local communities. We believe this is as a result of trying to save our green belt from being built on as the Mayor of London in his housing strategy wants all London boroughs to build 65000 homes a year over the next 10 years which approximately equates to 2000 homes per local authority. The housing strategy can be found online here –
One particular statement in the strategy refers to the following:-
3.21 – To support more new homes on small sites, the Mayor has set out policies in his draft London Plan to give a clear presumption in favour of appropriate residential development on small sites, including specific borough-level targets for this type of development. This new approach will enable more homes to be built in areas within walking distance of town centres and public transport and accepts that there is a need for the character of some neighbourhoods to evolve to accommodate additional housing.
This housing strategy by the Mayor puts pressure on the council and should it not meet its targets then planning matters could be taken out of the council hands and be over-ruled by the Mayor. Then we could see housing being built on some of the green belt land that we have left. Perhaps the issue here is not Havering but the London Mayors housing strategy that the London Boroughs have to follow!
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