PROPOSALS TO BUILD affordable housing in Hedon got a setback recently when the East Riding Council planning committee for the area recommended rejecting Cloeberry Way as the site for building four new homes.
The proposed development area of Cloeberry Way, Draper’s Lane is currently occupied by a car park and two garages. It was deemed unsuitable because it would have resulted in a “cramped and akward form of development” and “an undue sense of enclosure for any potential future occupiers”.
It is good that the planning authorities have kicked out an inappropriate development – affordable housing should be decent homes built to a high standard. However, it remains to be seen how Hedon’s very real need for affordable housing will be addressed.
The Housing Needs Survey has identified that Hedon needs at least 255 new affordable homes over the next five years. 298 households are already on the housing waiting list with Hedon as their top preference for re-location. 230 new homes need to be built for general needs and 25 homes for older people over the next five years (i.e. 51 new affordable homes per year).
The East Riding of Yorkshire Council is receiving a share of £127 million of Government funding to build council homes. The Council received the largest allocation of funding in the country and proposes to build 275 new affordable homes. Whilst this is good news it is obvious that even the £20 million awarded can only make a small impact on the real council housing needs in Hedon and the rest of the East Riding.