Housing plans latest

That's the substance of the recommendation that Rother director of services Tony Leonard will put to the council's cabinet on Monday.

He says the significance of the link road cannot be over-stated if 5,600 homes are to be built in the district over the next 20 years.

He suggests Rother should tell the county council in response to New Homes for East Sussex 2006'“2026:

1) The overall level of housing development proposed is considered appropriate having regard to economic, social and environmental objectives, subject to the following qualifications:

(a) The Bexhill-Hastings Link Road needs to be committed within relevant national, regional and local transport strategies and funding programmes, and specifically the proposed Implementation Plan, to be built within the next five years;

(b) This level of housing needs to be shown to be consistent with the sustainable regeneration and growth of the Hastings / Bexhill area and specifically with anticipated growth in potential employment, the importance of which should be recognised through a regeneration priority area status;

(c) It is essential that proper provision is made for the infrastructure needed to support and integrate development, especially in relation to education, health care, water supply and affordable housing as well as transport, in both policy and the investment programmes of the relevant public agencies.

2) The proposed level of housing in rural inland parts of Rother District is generally accepted, but it should be clear that the local provision of new homes properly needs to be determined as part of a more comprehensive sustainable rural area strategy though the preparation of the LDF.

3) The identification of Hastings as a Regional Transport Hub is strongly advocated for inclusion in the South East Plan to complement and support the regeneration and development strategy for the area.

The chairman has already agreed that, subject to the approval by cabinet, this decision can be taken as a matter of urgency to enable the council to submit its views to the county council by Monday's consultation deadline.

As a result of earlier consultation, the South East Regional Assembly concluded that the overall average level of housing growth in the South East over the next 20 years should be 28,900 homes a year. This is above the 28,000 Regional Planning Guidance figure, but less than the 32,000 higher option.

In the Sussex Coast sub-region -Chichester to Rye - SEERA is suggesting 2,700 new homes a year up to 2026, of which 1,900 would be in East Sussex, Brighton and Hove area.

Mr Leonard says: "This is 17% less than the current regional planning guidance figure and reflects an acknowledgement of the area's demographic characteristics; poor transport infrastructure and high environmental constraints, as well as the need to give priority to sustainable economic regeneration and growth."

The county council is proposing that an average of 280 homes a year be built in Rother over the period 2006 '“ 2026; 200 in the coastal area and the rest in rural Rother,

Putting the coastal figure in context, Mr Leonard says it represents an increase of 65% compared to the average annual rate of completions since 1991.

"Hence, it should be appreciated that the current proposals represent a significant increase in past building rates.

"However, as the consultation document recognises, recent development has been frustrated by the lack of sufficient transport capacity to allow major land releases. Indeed, the current Local Plan proposals imply a rate of growth in the coastal towns up to 2011, principally Bexhill, somewhat greater than currently proposed."

He says: "Bexhill is identified for potential location for growth largely because it is not constrained by any national AONB designation. Nevertheless, the countryside around Bexhill is found to be of a high quality and valuable rural setting for the town. Hence, outward growth still needs very careful consideration of environmental assets."

He adds: "Locally, the Bexhill-Hastings Link Road is the key to unlocking the development and employment potential of Bexhill. The significance of the Link Road cannot be underplayed '“ it is pivotal to the Task Force's regeneration strategy for Bexhill and Hastings."

The county has to submit its advice to SEERA by December 9. SEERA must finalise Part 2 of the South East Plan for submission to the Government by March.

The Government is then responsible for further statutory consultations and arranging for an examination into the plan. Any changes the Government proposes in the light of a panel conducting the examination in public will be subject to further consultation. It is expected that a final South East plan will be published in Spring 2008.