Issue - meetings

Report of the Director for Strategy and Commissioning.

Public Participation

Cllr Julian Johnson and Mr Des Hobson, Deputy Chairman of Coombe Bissett Parish Council spoke in support of option 2 detailed within the report.

Cllr Toby Sturgis, Cabinet Member for Waste, Property, Environment and Development Control Services presented a report which sought Committee approval to reconsider a number of options for disposal of the former Depot Site at Blandford Road, Coombe Bissett.

Local parish councils had expressed a desire to see the site developed for affordable housing by disposing of the land to a Registered Provider for this purpose and this had been supported by the Southern Wiltshire Area Board.

The Committee noted that there was no information available on site contamination. It was anticipated that a new housing allocations policy would be in place by the time any proposed homes would become available. As a precaution in case the new policy was not in place, the Committee agreed to add a resolution that preference would be given to households with a local connection to the parish of Coombe Bissett when allocating the new homes to address the identified housing need.

Resolved:

That the Committee:

1.     Agrees option 2 – that the site be used for the development of 3 affordable housing units, either to be retained, owned and managed by the Council, or disposed of to a Registered Provider;

2.     Delegates authority to the Service Director for Business Services after consultation with the Cabinet Member for Waste, Property,  Environment and Development Control Services to progress the chosen option including carrying out any required procurement or legal activities; and

3.     In the absence of a new housing allocations policy, preference will be given to households with a local connection to the parish of Coombe Bissett when allocating the housing units to address the identified housing need.

Reason for decision

In December 2011 a rural housing needs survey was undertaken with the support of the Parish Council and identified 7 local households seeking an affordable home in Coombe Bissett. The Parish Council are keen to see  more affordable housing developed for local people and have suggested that the Council should be making use of its own land to meet affordable housing needs, and should be looking to develop sites which are already within the Housing Policy Boundary rather than developing exception sites which would be the only other alternative.