Development in the back gardens of houses is an issue across the two boroughs of Bournemouth and Poole. 'Back filling' as it's known is being encouraged by the Government through their classifying back gardens as brown field sites, thereby making it much more difficult for Councils to reject planning applications on them.Bournemouth's Conservatives have been fighting this form of development for some time. The Council is currently run by the Liberal Democrats and, reacting to public concern back in July the Council passed this motion:
AT A MEETING OF THE BOROUGH OF BOURNEMOUTH COUNCIL, 25 JULY 2006
c. Residential Development in Bournemouth
Councillor Garratt moved and Councillor Brandwood seconded:
‘That the Council recognises the deep concerns of many residents about the impact on the character of residential areas that redevelopment of house sites as flats may have. The Council further recognises the concerns arising from the loss of back gardens to housing development.
The Council also recognises the similarly deep concerns of many residents that the high cost of housing to buy and rent locally could mean that as their children grow up they will have to move away from Bournemouth in order to afford somewhere to live.
In order to address issues of the loss of character the Council resolves, as part of the preparation of its Local Development Framework, to consider the development of Character Assessment policies.
In order to address the issue of the loss of back gardens the Council resolves to:
1. support calls for garden land to be reclassified as green field land;
2. welcome the commitment of Bournemouth’s MPs towards securing this;
3. express its support for the specific provision within the Local Government and Planning (Parkland and Windfall Development) Bill sponsored by Lorely Burt MP, which would require the Secretary of State to issue guidance to local planning authorities to the effect that ‘the gardens of private houses should be regarded for development control purposes as green field sites.’
In order to address the need, in particular, of local people growing up in Bournemouth to be able to afford a place to live, the Council resolves to confirm that affordable housing both to buy and rent is one of its top priorities.’
The motion was carried, 34 in favour, 6 against, 3 abstentions.
Simply enough, no?
Then why is there an advert in the latest edition of the Council's magazine, delivered monthly to all residents, for a company offering to buy up back gardens in order to develop them?
Why has the Council not vetoed advertisers who specifically advertise services to which we are opposed?
My own business advertises in BH Life, we have been told that there are waiting lists for advertisers in the magazine throughout the Spring as only a certain number of adverts are accepted. The excuse that accepting adverts keeps the cost down and they have to take adverts from whichever source they can therefore doesn't pass muster.
We should be practicing what we preach and ensuring that adverts of this type are not allowed in Council publications.
1 comment:
Overdevelopment is a scenario that is impacting communities all across America. It is all about greed.
Today Surfside, Florida has elected officials who talk "green" and "preservation" but who are beholden and controlled by the overdevelopment crowd, the special interests. Just another place with skewed priorities and lies told to taxpayers and homeowners. It used to be different, when Surfside was an example of doing things RIGHT. Communities all across America can learn from what has been done to try to protect one small community that was targeted for profit maximizing overdevelopment. Now the attack continues but hides behind deceptive labels and tactics. Surfside today is no longer an example for protecting communities. A new mayor and commission have changed the rules to facilitate law changes in favor of developers. Now they are trying to get their terms extended from 2 years to 4 years so they can figuratively sell the town out against the best interests of its own residents.
Surfside, Florida had emerged as a leading community in serving the public interest rather than special interests. Courageous, honest, and productive leadership was the hallmark of the Town of Surfside from 1992 - 2004. During that time, Mayor Paul Novack did actual, meaningful public service on the local level and even was a model looked at throughout the western hemisphere. Then, in Surfside, the Town Commission unanimously enact budget corrections and fiscally responsible policies and every year for 12 years the town operated under balanced, stable and efficient budgets, with production of increased levels of town services, and numerous capital projects undertaken and completed that upgraded the parks, playgrounds, streets, drainage system, business district, Veterans Park, Town Hall, and much more, all with no debt, no bonds, and with the building of significant town surplus funds to serve the town's present and future. The town attracted a new Publix and many new restaurants and shops for the business district and made improvements and expansions to town parking facilities. Plans were made for a new town library and hi-tech information center to go on newly acquired property on the west side of Collins Avenue. The town was internationally recognized as a model community, and in 2003 Novack was honored as the state-wide "Community Steward of the Year" in Tallahassee.
Paul Novack received the Community Steward Award for his steadfast advocacy for effective growth management in Surfside. In 1992, Surfside residents overwhelmingly supported a referendum to prevent a twenty-story beachfront condominium. For more than a decade after then, Novack has served as mayor of this small Dade County community for the grand fee of one dollar per year. Throughout his tenure, Novack and the town's commissioners have consistently denied any requests for height and density variances, maintaining heights at twelve stories east of Collins Avenue, and five stories to the west. Nominators wrote that, thanks to Mayor Novack, "the town's zoning code has been consistently, fairly and effectively enforced." Besides that, Novack has maintained a balanced budget without raising property taxes, there is a one-minute emergency police response time, and garbage is picked up six days a week for a nominal fee. During the selection process, 1000 Friends was impressed with Mayor Novack's steadfast determination to uphold the planning and development standards needed to maintain Surfside's distinctive character and scale, noted Pattison. "With his dynamic leadership abilities, commitment to sound planning, and concern for the residents of Surfside, Mayor Novack exemplifies the qualities of a true community steward."
Now in 2007, Surfside is no longer about public service. Its about self-service, deception, and serving special interests, the new agenda of its Town government.
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