Shapley Heath Audit Report Reveals Omnishambles

And now we know what was going on behind the Shapley Heath curtain. Nothing good. In fact, it’s an omnishambles of institutional incompetence on an epic scale. The people involved have demonstrated that they would struggle to run a bath and couldn’t even deliver pizza.

The Council have been shamed into publishing the Shapley Heath Audit report. It was discussed on Tuesday night behind closed doors and finally published in a news item yesterday. We have uploaded it to this website here, in case it “goes missing” from the Hart website.  The findings from the audit report are quite devastating:

  • Despite spending ~£820K in total, no project milestones were achieved.
  • Most of the tangible outputs produced were by the developers at their own cost.
  • No evidence to suggest that the project was financially managed appropriately.
  • Little financial monitoring information presented to members and some of that was inaccurate.
  • The Project Management did not meet the required standards.
  • No formal records of meetings and emails subsequently deleted.
  • Project reporting in terms of frequency and content did not meet expectations.
  • Little oversight by the Oversight Board and none by the Cabinet.
  • Virtually non-existent risk management.
  • Procurement rules not fully followed.
  • Contradictory information given to FOI requests. Email trails deleted.

We will cover each of these points in more detail below. However, given the damning summary, let’s look at what the consequences ought to be.

Shapley Heath Audit Report Consequences

First, let us remind ourselves of the background to the project. They commenced the project knowing that Shapley Heath had been removed from the Local Plan at the behest of the Planning Inspector. He had said that the new town was not required to meet our planning needs. The project wasn’t necessary.

Now we find that they have squandered hundreds of thousands of pounds and delivered nothing of substance.  They claim that some baseline studies have been produced, but as the audit report makes clear, these were funded by the developers. The actual public money has delivered nothing other than a now defunct website and a survey. The results of the survey showed overwhelming opposition to the project.

Now let’s move on to who were the key players. The project was managed under “Corporate Services” and covered material that included “Place”. The chair of the Opportunity Board was Councillor Graham Cockarill, portfolio holder for Place. Of course, Deputy Leader James Radley is also the portfolio holder for Corporate Services, including Finance.

Ultimately, elected members should be accountable for the failures in their respective portfolios. It is clear that between them Councillors Cockarill and Radley did not ask the right questions and did not convene the right meetings to keep on top of (the lack of) progress. Accordingly, given the shocking failures in project management and the colossal waste of our money, we believe both these Councillors should resign their positions. The situation is so serious, given the amounts of money involved, that we believe the Leader of the Council, David Neighbour should also consider his position.

The Chair of the Audit Committee, Councillor Axam also resisted the audit of the Shapley Heath project. This shocking lack of curiosity and desire to understand how their biggest project was performing shows he is unfit to lead the Audit Committee and he should resign too.

The relevant officers should also consider their position. Ultimately, JCX, Patricia Hughes was directing the project on a day-to-day basis. It is unthinkable that she be considered for the position of Chief Executive of the joint working between Hart and Rushmoor. The project manager running the project should also consider her position.

We can’t have a situation where nobody takes responsibility for a failure on such a massive scale. Institutional incompetence barely covers the scale of ineptitude.

Project Spending Out of Control

There are a number of points made about the level of spending. Most notably, total spending is expected to be over £820K and no project milestones have been achieved.

Shapley Heath Audit Report: Project Spending £820K

Shapley Heath Audit Report: Project Spending £820K

The auditors could find no evidence that this huge level of spend had been financially managed appropriately.

Shapley Heath Audit Report:No evidence the project was financially managed appropriately

Shapley Heath Audit Report:No evidence the project was financially managed appropriately

All of the baseline studies were procured and funded by the developers. This means that none of the £820K was spent on these reports. Most of it was spent on internal resources and recharges. In summary, they have squandered £820K, delivered nothing and were not properly managing the finances.

Developers to procure and fund baseline surveys

Developers to procure and fund baseline surveys

Little meaningful financial information was presented to members and some of that was inaccurate.

Financial Reporting Inaccurate

Financial Reporting Inaccurate

Inadequate Project Management Standards and Reporting

They did not meet the Council’s own project management standards. No standard documentation of risks, issues or budgeting were used.

Shapley Heath Audit Report: Management Did Not Meet Required Standards

Shapley Heath Audit Report: Management Did Not Meet Required Standards.

No formal records of meetings were kept, including meetings with the developers and Homes England. Emails have been deleted in line with the Council’s retention policy. Perhaps they were hoping they would be exonerated of wrong-doing if all the evidence had been deleted.

Shapley Heath Audit Report: No formal records of meetings

Shapley Heath Audit Report: No formal records of meetings

The standard of reporting was limited in terms of frequency and content. There was very little oversight at the Board level.

No oversight and inadequate reporting in terms of frequency and content

Inadequate oversight and limited reporting in terms of frequency and content

Note also that the board was chaired by Councillor Cockarill and Councillors Radley and Neighbour were in attendance. The senior leadership of the Council were clearly not doing their jobs properly.

Shapley Heath Opportunity Board

Shapley Heath Opportunity Board. Chair Cockarill with Radley and Neighbour in Attendance

There was no internal Project Board reviewing risks or issues. The oversight of risk management by the Corporate Project Board and Opportunity Board was insufficient throughout the project. Nobody took responsibility for managing the risks of spending so much of our money.

Insufficient Risk Management

Insufficient Risk Management

Shapley Heath Audit shows Procurement Rules Were Not Properly Followed

The report showed that the procurement rules were not properly followed. Multiple documents had not been signed. There was a lack of an audit trail for evaluation panel and delays in publishing contract award results.

Did not Follow Procurement Rules

Did not Follow Procurement Rules

FOI Responses Gave Contradictory Information

They gave contradictory responses to FOI requests and email trials have been deleted. Surely, the email retention policy should not mandate the deletion of all emails older than 1 year. The Council will have no record of long running disputes with suppliers and so on, which would limit its evidence base in the event of legal action.

FOI Responses gave Contradictory Information

FOI Responses gave Contradictory Information

It’s time for heads to roll.

Hart and Rushmoor Working Together

Hart and Rushmoor are looking at working together more closely. The topic will be considered by Hart Cabinet next week. Regular readers may remember that we put forward the idea of Hart sharing resources with another Council last year. Rushmoor was one of the candidate councils.

They have produced a “Joint Working Together” statement. This covers the opportunity for a number of benefits:

  1. A reduction in overall costs. By identifying ways to deliver services and share resources, it will be possible to reduce duplication and overall management costs.
  2. A stronger voice in the County and with Government. The increased scale and combined resources will bring a stronger voice to represent our communities.
  3. Improved joined-up service delivery. By working closely together, in an area that shares many similar challenges and history, it will be possible to deliver better organised, coordinated and joined up services for our communities.
  4. Better use of scarce resources. The combined capability of two organisations working collaboratively together to recruit and jointly manage, will provide an opportunity to attract and retain higher calibre candidates.
  5. Improved resilience. In potentially sharing services and staff resources, over time each council will improve its resilience to deal with both planned an unplanned event.

They are looking specifically at creating a shared Chief Executive and sharing more services. They rule out a full merger of the Councils. The paper specifically about sharing the chief executive is has been restricted. The formal words suggest they are just at the stage of creating the business case for sharing a Chief Executive. However, the statement says that an early step would be to

“Establish a process to appoint a shared Chief Executive responsible for leading the change programme across both councils.”

This suggests the business case step is little more than a formality. Indeed, the timeline suggests a new chief exec will be in place by November 2022.

Hart and Rushmoor Working Together Timeline

Hart and Rushmoor Working Together Timeline

In our view, the business case should be very simple. Currently, the two councils employ 3 CEOs between them. Even if they have to pay the new CEO more money, there’s opportunity for savings of around £250K per year across both councils. Plus, there’s opportunity to consolidate the senior management teams.

We welcome this project and look forward to seeing it develop.  However, we note that late last year Hart’s leader, Dave Neighbour defended the current management structure when we challenged him. So, there is a doubt about whether his heart is really in it.

Housing Delivery Test – Hart Builds Twice the Requirement

Housing Delivery Test Hampshire 2021

Housing Delivery Test Hampshire 2021

The latest Housing Delivery Test numbers have recently been released by the Government. These have been processed into fancy graphics by various companies in the property sector. Strutt and Parker’s graphic above shows that Hart has built at more than twice the required rate in the past three years. This is more than any other part of Hampshire.

This is confirmed by the figures in the Government spreadsheet. In this document, we can compare Hart with neighbouring Rushmoor and Surrey Heath.

Housing Delivery Test Government Figures

Government Table for Neighbouring Local Authorities

Hart is delivering more housing than both of them and far more than required. Further analysis of this sheet shows Hart is 23rd out of the 294 planning authorities. This puts Hart in the top decile of housing delivery compared to requirement.

Housing Delivery Test – Developer View

Developers are disappointed by this development. Planning Insight has produced a report analysing the performance of  Planning Authorities across Hampshire. They are less than pleased about Hart’s housing delivery and 10.2 year land supply.

Planning Insight Hart Housing Delivery Test

Planning Insight Hart Performance

Planning Insight do not expect Hart to be in the “Presumption In Favour of Sustainable Development” anytime soon. In fact, they assign a cloud next to Hart’s name.

This means that it does not look good for developers putting forward speculative housing proposals in Hart.

 

It is very puzzling that until very recently, Hart Council was pushing the Shapley Heath Garden Community. They proposed to deliver this community in addition to the Local Plan Requirements. Why on earth would we want to deliver even more houses when we’re already delivering at more than twice the required rate. Over £500K down the drain since 2018/19 on a totally unnecessary project.

Hart Faces Wave of Change

After seeing the many recent failures of Hart Council, it is inevitable that Hart will face a wave of change. The most pressing issue facing the council is the structural budget deficit. Even after the savings they have identified, a large deficit remains. This is clearly unsustainable for even a few years, so something radical needs to change, and quickly. The only question is, will Hart take the initiative and surf the wave of change. Or will it be overtaken by events and be destroyed by a tsunami beyond its control?

There are some potential ideas to consider:

  • Share resources with another Council
  • Be subsumed into a broader pan-Hampshire unitary authority

Hart Faces Wave of Change: Share Resources

By way of example, nearby Havant and East Hampshire councils have come to an arrangement to share resources. This has enabled them to make significant savings in for instance, the leadership team.

Hart currently has 2 full-time chief executives each costing over £122K per year in salaries, expenses and pension contributions. In addition, there is a full time S151/Head of Corporate Services Officer, a Head of Place, Head of Environmental and Technical Services and a Head of Community Services. Each of those roles costs nearly £100K on a full year basis. In total, the leadership team costs over £540K per year.

Hart Faces Wave of Change: Cost of Hart Council Leadership Team

Hart Faces Wave of Change: Cost of Hart Council Leadership Team

Between them, Havant and East Hampshire have a single chief executive, a director of Corporate Services/S151 and a Service Director of Regeneration and Place. In total the cost of the leadership team is £333K. This is shared between the two councils giving a cost for each of £166K.

Havant and East Hants Senior Salaries

Havant and East Hants Senior Salaries

It is simply untenable for Hart to have two chief executives when Havant and East Hampshire get along with just one between them. On leadership team alone there is a potential saving of £378K per year if an agreement could be reached with another council. Probably more once additional ancillary costs are taken into account. No doubt additional savings could be made in the lower ranks too from combining the workforces. Additional savings could likely be made in contracts, premises and IT systems too. It is probably feasible to eliminate the remaining deficits in 22/23 (£494K) and 23/24 (£703K) from such a combination.

Interestingly, both councils are forecasting surpluses in the medium term, even though they are both of similar size to Hart.

Hart Council Combination Candidates

Rushmoor

Having established that sharing resources between councils can work and deliver savings, it is time to look for potential candidates.

Perhaps the most obvious candidate would be neighbouring Rushmoor. However, their finances are an even bigger basket case than Hart’s. Rushmoor is forecasting a deficit of over £4m in FY23/24 and FY24/25. Moreover, they are also forecasting that their reserves will be totally depleted in FY23/24.

Rushmoor £4m deficit and depleted reserves

Rushmoor £4m deficit and depleted reserves

If you can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear, you certainly can’t make a silk purse from two sow’s ears.

Basingstoke and Deane

The other potential candidate is Basingstoke and Deane (B&D). B&D is about three times bigger than Hart, with an annual budget of around £32m. It is currently running a surplus, but is forecasting a deficit in FY23/24. Hart already shares the waste contract with B&D. Combining resources with B&D will no doubt lead to savings that could help both councils close the future funding gap.

Basingstoke and Deane MTFS

Basingstoke and Deane MTFS

Hart Faces Wave of Change: Pan-Hampshire Deal

Another development that we need to keep a lose eye on is the proposed “Pan-Hampshire Deal”. Hampshire County Council have produced a couple of documents about the proposals:

The idea is to seek a devolution deal from the Government covering the existing Hampshire County Council (HCC) area, plus the unitary authorities of Southampton, Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight. The idea is to seek more powers and responsibilities from Central Government along with extra funding.

This may well have a significant impact on the governance of the whole of Hampshire.  Two options are proposed:

  1. Maintenance of the present arrangements which will lead only to a possible County Deal for Hampshire County Council, with limited new powers and funding.
  2. Creation of a Pan-Hampshire Combined Authority involving the County Council, existing Unitary Authorities, Districts and Boroughs, to assume direct responsibility for new functions and to access new resources. This can
    be accompanied with collaborative structures around functions and areas through joint committees; direct business
    engagement and leadership on key economic priorities such as international trade & investment, innovation & skills; and wider engagement with public service providers.

Clearly, the second option to create a pan-Hampshire combined authority may well impact the structure of the existing authorities. There are almost certainly opportunities for significant cost savings. However, our fear is that such a move may create a local government leviathan that is too remote and unresponsive to the needs of a small district like Hart.

HCC are inviting views from partners and stakeholders. So we will have to see what transpires. But it may be that Hart gets subsumed into this bigger plan.

Ranil demands bold Hart Regeneration Plans

Ranil Jayawardena MP demands bold Hart regeneration plans

Ranil demands bold Hart regeneration plans

Our local MP, Ranil Jayawardena has written a column in Fleet News and Mail demanding that the local Council develop bold Hart regeneration plans.

Hos article sets out the excellent regeneration work happening in neighbouring Aldershot and Basingstoke. He might well have added Farnham and Wokingham that have attracted millions in development funding.

By contrast, the CCH/Lib Dem led Hart District Council are proposing to spend £650K of public money on the  Shapley Heath Garden Village proposal. They refuse to entertain any discussions about regeneration of Fleet, Hook and Blackwater and Yateley.

Ranil’s full artcle can be downloaded using the button below.

Ranil demands bold Hart regeneration plans
Ranil demands bold Hart regeneration plans

Winchfield New Town torpedoed by Government figures

Winchfield New Town torpedoed by new Government figures

Winchfield New Town torpedoed by new Government figures

The Government have published new figures that further undermine Hart’s proposals for the Winchfield New Town in the Hart Local Plan.

The housing requirements for Hart, Rushmoor and Surrey Heath have been significantly reduced. Rushmoor is already planning for far more houses than it needs. Surrey Heath now has more housing supply than it will need to deliver to meet these new targets.

The impact on Hart is that we already have enough housing supply in the Local Plan to meet our needs up to and beyond 2041. This means that the proposed Winchfield New Town is not required at all. We believe it’s time to ditch the new town idea from the Local Plan. Failure to do so might result in the Local Plan being found unsound at examination.

New household projections impact on housing need

The Office for National Statistics has published household projections based upon a 2016 baseline. These new figures update earlier projections based on a 2014 baseline. The projections for Hart are lower than prior estimates and should reduce the number of houses we have to build.

We are concerned the current Lib Dem/CCH coalition won’t take advantage of this opportunity to ditch their ridiculous Winchfield New Town Plan.

The new projections show the number of households in Hart rising from 37,129 in 2016 to 40,347 in 2032. The total rises to 41,744 in 2041. This works out at a rate of 201 dwellings per annum (dpa) from 2016 to 2032 and 185 dpa from 2016 to 2041.

Hart District household changes based on 2016 baseline show no need for Winchfield New Town

Hart District household changes based on 2016 baseline

The new Government methodology for calculating housing need adds an ‘affordability uplift’ to these baseline figures. In Hart’s case, this is the maximum of 40%. Adding this uplift takes our total housing need t0 4,505 upto 2032 and 6,461 up to 2041. The required build rate is 282 dpa in the period 2016-2032 and 258 dpa from 2016-2041.

Comparison to the Hart Local Plan

The Government baseline used in the Local Plan was 292 dpa using the 2014-based figures. Hart has uplifted this requirement up to 388 dpa in their Local Plan, giving a total planned build of 6,208 houses.

Hart Local Plan 2016-2032 justification

Hart Local Plan 2016-2032 housing numbers justification

Their justification of contingency against uplift doesn’t hold water as we only need to build a total of 6,461 up to 2041.

At the time the Local Plan was prepared, they had already conservatively estimated 6,346 of available supply.

Understated housing supply

Since then, they have produced a topic paper as part of the Local Plan examination process that shows housing supply of 6,401. This is just 60 short of what is actually required up to 2041. The outstanding 60 will be more than met by the 72 dwellings expected to be built at Hartland Village in 2033 (see housing trajectory here, p24).

Hart District Housing Supply April 2018 demonstrates no need for Winchfield New Town

Hart District Housing Supply April 2018

Impact on Rushmoor and Surrey Heath

The housing requirements for both Rushmoor and Surrey Heath have come down considerably. There is definitely no need to plan for any overspill from either borough.

Indeed, Rushmoor is already planning for far more houses than they actually need. Surrey Heath’s supply now exceeds their requirement.

One could argue that if future projections were to increase, Rushmoor could easily absorb this.

Impact on Winchfield New Town proposals

To sum up, the Local Plan already proposes to build more houses than we need in the period to 2032. Hart Council chose to add a Winchfield new town on top of that inflated requirement. They intend to deliver even more unnecessary new houses from the mid-2020’s. These new Government figures show we already have more than enough housing supply to meet our actual needs up to and beyond 2041, without a new town.

It simply is not credible to keep the Winchfield New Town in the plan. Time to ditch it.

 

 

 

 

CCH reveal plan to Completely Concrete Hart

Community Campaign Hart (CCH) reveal plans to Completely Concrete Hart

CCH reveal plans to Completely Concrete Hart

Community Campaign Hart (CCH) have revealed their plan to Completely Concrete Hart by sticking to the ridiculous 10,185 housing target in the draft Local Plan. This comes despite the new Government method for calculating housing need results in a much lower housing target for Hart, Rushmoor and Surrey Heath.

It is time to up the pressure on CCH to come up with a strategy to take account of this new information. They should build a Local Plan that is good for the whole of Hart that everybody can live with. It is time to drop their plan to Completely Concrete Hart.

To be clear, in our view, Hart’s housing target should be reduced to around 6,500, to take account of the new Government approach, plus a few hundred for Surrey Heath. Using the figures in the draft Local Plan consultation (para 104), this would leave 906 new houses left to plan for. This could be made up from

  • Sun Park (320), from Local Plan para 109
  • Grove Farm (423), sadly
  • The forthcoming Rawlings depot site in Hook (123)
  • The remaining 40 can come from any number of brownfield sites for instance:
    • Hartley Wintney (Nero Brewery – 10)
    • Winchfield (Winchfield Court extension – 17)
    • The derelict eyesores on Fleet Road – up to 200.

We can save Hartland Village (Pyestock) for the 2030’s.

The revelations came in a reply to an email sent to CCH by a concerned correspondent on Facebook. We reproduce the question, James Radley’s answer and our commentary in red below.

Question to Community Campaign Hart (CCH)

I write to you ask a question about your party’s policy towards supporting (or not) a reduced housing total for Hart District. Specifically, in regard of this statement on the We Heart Hart (WHH) Facebook page:

If Hart followed the latest Government approach to calculating housing need, even Hartland Park wouldn’t be needed. The remaining housing need could be met from Sun Park and any number of other small brownfield sites.

Answer from CCH revealing commitment to Completely Concrete Hart

I am probably the best placed to explain the CCH position on housing numbers. It is true that as a rule we do not engage in social media debates, mainly due to a lack of time. As well as trying to fit in my day job I also expect to spend over 6 hours in total in the council offices today and similarly tomorrow.

One has to ask why the council Deputy Leader and portfolio holder for Services is spending quite so much time in council offices working on the Local Plan. One would hope this time would be put in by the portfolio holder for planning, Lib Dem councillor Graham Cockarill. It obviously takes a lot of effort to Completely Concrete Hart.

Social media debates are very time consuming in order to stay on top of all the posts and then the debate tends to descend to the lowest common denominator. I for one would certainly rather put the time and effort in where it matters and unless one is going to invest all that precious time in the social media arena, better not to engage at all.

This sounds like CCH want to stay in their own bunker and not actually engage with anyone who disagrees with them. They are afraid to engage because they don’t have any facts or arguments to back up their new town ideology.

Unfortunately WHH are wrong in their assessment of housing numbers.

No, we are not wrong in our numbers. Here is the relevant section of the Government consultation document.

Para 15 of Planning for the right homes in the right places - baseline plus maket signals

Para 15 of Planning for the right homes in the right places

Working through this. The demographic baseline is the latest DCLG household projections (Table 406) that can be found here. These show that over the period 2011-2032, Hart requires 218 dwellings per annum, or 4,536 in total. In the reference period of 2016-2026 used by the Government, Hart requires 209 dwellings per annum. This 209 dpa is then modified to account for market signals and results in a new Government figure for Hart of 292 dpa. Scaling up to the full planning period results in 6,132 new houses for Hart. And that’s it. No more further adjustments for changes in household size. No more houses for people we have to import who then go and work in London. This compares to the 8,022 in the SHMA and 10,185 in the draft Local Plan.

Hart housing targets under alternative scenarios

Hart housing targets under alternative scenarios

They are citing a baseline figure in a government consultation paper which is not part of the planning policy framework in effect at this point in time and is a figure which even if it was policy is taken as a starting point on top of which other factors will add to the housing numbers needed.

We have answered the point about the baseline above. The baseline is the demographic projection. The Government then already made the upwards adjustment for market signals in the 292 dpa figure. It is true that these figures are so far only part of a consultation paper, but the feedback we have received is that the Government is committed to pushing these through. It would seem prudent to us for Hart to take these figures into account now and prepare a Local Plan with two scenarios:

  • The first scenario should be based upon the 6,132 outlined above. Plus a few hundred to give some flexibility to build some new houses for Surrey Heath. They may still have a problem meeting their new, lower housing target. This would give a total of around 6,500.
  • The second scenario should be based solely on the SHMA figure of 8,022.

To be clear, the daft 10,185 target in the draft Local Plan should be dropped forthwith. Even James Radley admits the extra 2,000+ houses on top of the SHMA won’t affect house prices. As the Government position becomes clear, Hart can make the decision on which scenario can be submitted to the inspector. There is no need to Completely Concrete Hart.

We lost the fight against Grove Farm because we don’t have a local plan in place. We don’t have a local plan because the Conservatives have allowed it to drift for years in a sea of procrastination driven by their internal in fighting.

True, Grove Farm was lost because we don’t have a Local Plan. It was also lost because our policies are out of date and because the application was not determined on time. Yes, the Tories missed all their own deadlines. But CCH have also played their part by forcing a delay in the Local Plan last December.

The main reason for taking control was to get the local plan out and to do so by a total focus and not letting the intentional disruptions from WHH to deflect us from that.

At no time have we sought to delay the Local Plan. We Heart Hart first highlighted the project management and governance problems back in April 2015 and again in January 2016 after the consultation omnishambles.

It is quite clear that if we don’t get a local plan out that is based on realistic and future proof housing numbers, then Fleet & Church Crookham will continue to be blighted by bolt on developments such as Grove Farm, Pale Lane and whatever is next.

Yes, we need a Local Plan. And quickly. The realistic numbers to use are the Government’s new numbers. These are already future proofed by the extra houses to take account of market signals. We have suggested a modest further uplift to help out Surrey Heath.

It is interesting that the Deputy Leader for the whole of Hart is only concerned about Fleet and Church Crookham. We are also concerned about Owens Farm to the west of Hook. We are also concerned about the long term impact of adopting a ridiculously high housing target. This will then be compounded for decades to come, putting even more of our green fields under threat, including Pale Lane and Crookham Village.

WHH know this and are trying to undermine the new settlement option in the full knowledge that they are condemning us to yet more incremental developments which do not produce any retrospective infrastructure.

We are opposed to the new settlement because we don’t believe it is needed. And we certainly don’t believe it will solve the infrastructure problems facing the district. And we don’t want to Completely Concrete Hart. If we adopt the new Government housing numbers, it will be better for everyone.

I hope that my brief explanation helps.

It does, but not in the way he thinks. It confirms CCH is in the driving seat, dragging the Lib Dems along with disastrous policies to Completely Concrete Hart. The explanation confirms CCH is in a bunker, unwilling and unable to debate the real issues. CCH is locked into its new town ideology and is trying to justify it by sticking to a ridiculous housing target.

CPRE concerned about new Government housing targets

CPRE concerned about new Government housing targets.

CPRE concerned about new Government housing targets.

In an article appearing in today’s Fleet News and Mail, the CPRE is concerned about new Government housing targets.

The Fleet N&M has picked up on our article that shows Hart’s housing target will fall to 6,132 new dwellings under new Government proposals. This compares to the Hart’s current Local Plan total of some 10,185. The total outlined in the Strategic Housing Market Assessment (SHMA) of 8,022.

CPRE is concerned about the impact of the new guidelines in southern and east Hampshire and in Basingstoke and Deane. Whilst we share some of this concern, we are delighted about the result for Hart, RUshmoor and Surrey Heath.

We have asked some questions of council that will be tabled at tomorrow’s meeting, so we will find out how Hart plans to respond to these new proposals.

The full Fleet N&M article can be found here.

 

New Government methodology to reduce Hart housing need

Time to celebrate reduction in Hart housing need

New Government methodology reduces Hart housing need

Yesterday, the Government published a consultation (Planning for the Right Homes in the Right Places) on its proposals to simplify and standardise the calculation of housing need. The good news is that Sajid Javid’s new  methodology, if adopted, will result in a significant reduction in Hart housing need. There are also reductions for Rushmoor and Surrey Heath.

Significant reduction in Hart Housing need

Government Housing Need Consultation results in reductions for Hart, Rushmoor and Surrey Heath

Impact on Hart Housing Need

If this proposal was adopted, the full housing requirement for Hart would fall to 6,132 new dwellings. This compares to the Hart’s current Local Plan total of some 10,185 and the total outlined in the Strategic Housing Market Assessment (SHMA) of 8,022. The new target of 6,132 is above the 5,144 we recommended in the recent Local Plan consultation. But, clearly, if the new figure of 6,132 was adopted, we would welcome it.

The Government now calculates housing need on the basis of the most up to date demographic projections. They then add an adjustment for suppressed households and affordable housing. The affordable housing adjustment is based on local house prices compared to local earnings.

This vindicates the stance we have been taking for years now: Hart’s housing target is ridiculous. The current SHMA takes out of date demographic projections and makes lots of spurious and arbitrary adjustments that don’t address the needs of the district. Then Hart Council added a further 2,000 houses to that. This new approach proposed by the Government is much more sensible.

Impact on Rushmoor and Surrey Heath

This is also good news for Rushmoor and Surrey Heath. Rushmoor’s overall housing target reduces by 2,982 houses. Rushmoor has already said it can meet it’s current target, so this leaves it with significant extra capacity.

Surrey Heath’s target reduces by 630 houses. Surrey Heath has said it will endeavour to meet its current housing target, but if it can’t, then Hart and Rushmoor would be expected to make up any shortfall. Previous estimates of their shortfall were around 1,400 houses. These new proposals make any problems Surrey Heath has much easier to solve.

Taken together, these reductions are very welcome and reduce the risk that Hart will be forced to take any overspill from Surrey Heath.

Impact on the Hart Local Plan

There is further good news. If the current Local Plan is more than five years old or if the new Local Plan is not submitted by 31 March 2018, then the new methodology must be used. This means that Hart should start considering this new methodology immediately.

Impact of new housing need methodology on Hart Local Plan

Impact of new methodology on Hart Local Plan

If the new methodology was adopted, then the Hart housing need drops and Hart would need to build far fewer houses. According to the recent Local Plan consultation, a total of 5,594 houses have already been built or planned for as of January 31 2017. This would 600-700 houses left to plan for, maybe a few more to give scope for taking Surrey Heath over spill. In round numbers, let’s assume 1,000 houses left to plan for. Planning for a few more houses than those demanded by the standard method would mean that the Inspector would have to work on the assumption that the Plan was sound.

New Government housing methodology - impact on planning inspectors

New Government housing methodology – impact on planning inspectors

This could be easily made up from brownfield sites in the draft Local Plan. Sun Park (320) and Hartland Park (1,500) would more than meet the remaining need, with plenty of room to spare. This would mean Hartland Park could be built at a slower rate.

The implication of this is that we would need no new settlement. No building at Murrell Green, no new settlement at Winchfield or at Rye Common. Furthermore, Pale Lane (Elevetham Chase) and Cross Farm wouldn’t be required. It remains to be seen whether the inspector will take account of this new methodology to save Netherhouse Copse (Grove Farm) in the current ongoing appeal.

Impact on Neighbourhood plans

In a further piece of good news, the Government proposes that the way housing need in Neighbourhood plans is calculated should be simplified. It says that it should be based on the proportionate population of the Neighbourhood planning area.

New Government housing methodology - Neighbourhood plans

New Government housing methodology – Neighbourhood plans

This is essentially the same proportionate method that we have been advocating for some time. It will finally mean that David Cameron’s promise that local areas should not simply have new housing estates dumped upon them will be met. This proposal will also effectively mean that existing urban areas should become more dense. This is another policy we advocated in the recent consultation.

Note of caution

So far, this is just a consultation and is not yet adopted. There is therefore a risk that developers will seek to water down the proposals or amend them. We have done a quick analysis of the Government spreadsheet and that shows that roughly half of Local Authorities have had their targets increased and roughly half have seen a reduction. Overall, the housing need identified by the Government is about 266,000 houses per annum, in line with previous estimates of overall national requirements. So, in our view, developers don’t have much of an argument – the proposals seem to redistribute the housing targets where they are most needed.

Moreover, there are some potential pitfalls in planning for certain groups such as the elderly and affordable housing in paras 89 & 90. However, this is really about how to get the total to add up, rather than changing the total.

Conclusion

Overall, we think that if these proposals are adopted it is very good news for Hart, Rushmoor and Surrey Heath. The new Hart housing need would be very achievable and would save many of our precious green fields that are under threat.

We would urge you to respond to the Government’s consultation and give it your support.

We also expect the council to set to work immediately to revise the draft Local Plan to take account of these new developments. This should be easy. They are already planning for far more houses than we need, so striking out the controversial green field developments should be a relatively simple task.

 

 

 

 

Rushmoor leads urban regeneration push

Rushmoor leads urban regeneration push

Rushmoor leads urban regeneration push

Leader of Rushmoor Council, Dave Clifford has published an article in Get Surrey, setting out how the council is tackling urban regeneration in Aldershot. Full article here.

He acknowledges the challenges facing town centres from increased internet shopping. Their response has been to produce a prospectus for Aldershot town centre. This includes a joined up plan to support redevelopment of areas such as Westgate and the Galleries. But they have also taken a leadership position by acquiring properties on Union Street. This is part of a plan to consolidate ownership, so a redevelopment plan can be put together.

There is much to be done, but it is clear Rushmoor is rising to the challenge.

Well done Rushmoor.

Hart is missing an opportunity

Hart Local Plan to regenerate urban centres

This is in stark contrast to Hart Council. The recent Local Plan consultation acknowledged “The delivery of town centre redevelopment opportunities must be a priority”. However, no significant proposals were put forward to improve the town centres of Fleet, Blackwater, Yateley or Hook. We did put forward some ideas on this in our response to the Local Plan consultation.

It remains to be seen if the new administration has the vision and the political will to tackle these issues.