Post by Sherford on Sept 19, 2008 14:53:53 GMT
www.thisiswesternmorningnews.co.uk/news/NEW-TOWNS-BUILT/article-338853-detail/article.html
Will new towns ever be built?
Friday, September 19, 2008, 10:00
FEARS are mounting that plans for two major new towns to help ease the South West's homes crisis could be dead in the water.
It has been revealed that building work on Cranbrook, a town which could house up to 7,500 families outside Exeter in East Devon, has been postponed "indefinitely" because of the shocking state of the housing market.
And it is now feared that the 5,500 development planned for Sherford, close to Ivybridge in the South Hams, may not be built either because of the economic problems sweeping the country.
Tim Jones, chairman of the Devon and Cornwall Business Council, and a property developer, said: "There can be no doubt that both Cranbrook and Sherford were conceived under a housing market that has disappeared, if not for ever, for the foreseeable future."
There were also calls for the Government to step in with financial aid to help get the programmes back on track. South Hams District Council was denying there were problems with Sherford yesterday, saying the programme for the town was "still on track".
But East Devon District Council, on whose land Cranbrook would be build, confirmed that work on the town scheduled to start later this year had been put on hold because the developers, a consortium including Persimmon and Redrow Homes, were unwilling to spend money on them with the housing market in a precarious condition.
The developers were worried they could spend millions on putting in roads and other infrastructure for the towns and then be left with unsold homes. Sara Randall Johnson, leader of the council, also laid the blame at the Government's door for the "frustration and disappointment" caused.
"It is too soon to say that Cranbrook is dead in the water," she said.
"But the housing certainly isn't going to happen in the next two or three years. The burden for the property developers is that they have to put in the infrastructure. Everything has got to be put in – and put in before the houses are built. We are talking about spending a multi-million-pound sum."
She added: "We have been working on this for 15 years, so it is extremely frustrating. Is it going to be another 10 or 15 years before Cranbrook finally gets built?"
Both Cranbrook and Sherford are part of the Government's Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS), currently at a draft stage, which lays a foundation for population growth and economic growth in the South West. Originally, Cranbrook was to have 3,500 homes but it was increased to cope with new projections on population growth. As well as homes for tens of thousands of people, it was being planned as a model of 21st-century design.
A new railway station on the Exeter-to-Waterloo line would link the new community with the city and public transport improvements would connect it with Exeter International Airport and major new employment parks planned for the surrounding area.
Mr Jones said that a likely scenario could be that much smaller village-sized developments could be built as seed communities, leading to the larger towns over a longer timescale.
Hugo Swire, the Conservative MP for East Devon, said the delay in Cranbrook was "inevitable" but not necessarily a negative thing.
"It was always inevitable when the developer was Persimmon, which has been laying off jobs recently," he said.
"There is no-one to build the houses and no-one to buy them. Hopefully now we will get Whitehall and central Government off our back and telling us what to do, allowing the local people to take control and use local opinion to build what needs to be built."
No-one from Redrow or Persimmon was available for comment last night.
Ben Bradshaw, the MP for Exeter and Minister for the South West, said he was confident the Cranbrook scheme could be restarted. "It is worrying but not unexpected, given the state the housing construction market is in," he said. "This isn't the end of the Cranbrook scheme."
In a statement last night, the Government Office South West said: "Construction of new homes at Cranbrook cannot start until planning permission has been approved. The actual timing of construction is a matter for the housebuilders.
"The New Growth Point Partnership (East Devon District Council, Exeter City Council, Devon County, South West Regional Development Agency, the Highways Agency, Cranbrook Consortium (of housebuilders) and Government Office South West) have assumed that the developers will have regard to the credit crunch and housing market downturn and that construction will begin later rather than sooner.
"However, the consortium has repeatedly assured the partnership that it is committed to progressing the present outline planning permission, and negotiations on the contents of the Section 106 Agreements (developer contributions to public amenities and services) are continuing. Planning permission is likely to be granted by the end of this year so the planning process (as opposed to construction) is definitely not 'on hold'.
"The New Growth Point Partnership is considering a proposal to use public funds to build the £11.3m Clyst Honiton bypass ahead of a start at Cranbrook. The consortium would still have to pay it back through a Section 106 Agreement once building at Cranbrook begins. The partnership are considering including the bypass as a project in their Programme of Development Refresh, to be submitted to the Government by October 1."
Will new towns ever be built?
Friday, September 19, 2008, 10:00
FEARS are mounting that plans for two major new towns to help ease the South West's homes crisis could be dead in the water.
It has been revealed that building work on Cranbrook, a town which could house up to 7,500 families outside Exeter in East Devon, has been postponed "indefinitely" because of the shocking state of the housing market.
And it is now feared that the 5,500 development planned for Sherford, close to Ivybridge in the South Hams, may not be built either because of the economic problems sweeping the country.
Tim Jones, chairman of the Devon and Cornwall Business Council, and a property developer, said: "There can be no doubt that both Cranbrook and Sherford were conceived under a housing market that has disappeared, if not for ever, for the foreseeable future."
There were also calls for the Government to step in with financial aid to help get the programmes back on track. South Hams District Council was denying there were problems with Sherford yesterday, saying the programme for the town was "still on track".
But East Devon District Council, on whose land Cranbrook would be build, confirmed that work on the town scheduled to start later this year had been put on hold because the developers, a consortium including Persimmon and Redrow Homes, were unwilling to spend money on them with the housing market in a precarious condition.
The developers were worried they could spend millions on putting in roads and other infrastructure for the towns and then be left with unsold homes. Sara Randall Johnson, leader of the council, also laid the blame at the Government's door for the "frustration and disappointment" caused.
"It is too soon to say that Cranbrook is dead in the water," she said.
"But the housing certainly isn't going to happen in the next two or three years. The burden for the property developers is that they have to put in the infrastructure. Everything has got to be put in – and put in before the houses are built. We are talking about spending a multi-million-pound sum."
She added: "We have been working on this for 15 years, so it is extremely frustrating. Is it going to be another 10 or 15 years before Cranbrook finally gets built?"
Both Cranbrook and Sherford are part of the Government's Regional Spatial Strategy (RSS), currently at a draft stage, which lays a foundation for population growth and economic growth in the South West. Originally, Cranbrook was to have 3,500 homes but it was increased to cope with new projections on population growth. As well as homes for tens of thousands of people, it was being planned as a model of 21st-century design.
A new railway station on the Exeter-to-Waterloo line would link the new community with the city and public transport improvements would connect it with Exeter International Airport and major new employment parks planned for the surrounding area.
Mr Jones said that a likely scenario could be that much smaller village-sized developments could be built as seed communities, leading to the larger towns over a longer timescale.
Hugo Swire, the Conservative MP for East Devon, said the delay in Cranbrook was "inevitable" but not necessarily a negative thing.
"It was always inevitable when the developer was Persimmon, which has been laying off jobs recently," he said.
"There is no-one to build the houses and no-one to buy them. Hopefully now we will get Whitehall and central Government off our back and telling us what to do, allowing the local people to take control and use local opinion to build what needs to be built."
No-one from Redrow or Persimmon was available for comment last night.
Ben Bradshaw, the MP for Exeter and Minister for the South West, said he was confident the Cranbrook scheme could be restarted. "It is worrying but not unexpected, given the state the housing construction market is in," he said. "This isn't the end of the Cranbrook scheme."
In a statement last night, the Government Office South West said: "Construction of new homes at Cranbrook cannot start until planning permission has been approved. The actual timing of construction is a matter for the housebuilders.
"The New Growth Point Partnership (East Devon District Council, Exeter City Council, Devon County, South West Regional Development Agency, the Highways Agency, Cranbrook Consortium (of housebuilders) and Government Office South West) have assumed that the developers will have regard to the credit crunch and housing market downturn and that construction will begin later rather than sooner.
"However, the consortium has repeatedly assured the partnership that it is committed to progressing the present outline planning permission, and negotiations on the contents of the Section 106 Agreements (developer contributions to public amenities and services) are continuing. Planning permission is likely to be granted by the end of this year so the planning process (as opposed to construction) is definitely not 'on hold'.
"The New Growth Point Partnership is considering a proposal to use public funds to build the £11.3m Clyst Honiton bypass ahead of a start at Cranbrook. The consortium would still have to pay it back through a Section 106 Agreement once building at Cranbrook begins. The partnership are considering including the bypass as a project in their Programme of Development Refresh, to be submitted to the Government by October 1."
