New affordable housing – What is this? There is currently a proposal to build 16 new affordable houses in Stoke Climsland. It is just this, a proposal, but we are led to believe the whole Parish is behind this according to newspaper reports?
As I understand it, a meeting was called in the village hall to discuss the proposals. A vote was taken to either continue investigating the local need for affordable housing, or to take it no further. It was made very clear that a vote for, was purely a vote to continue looking into the need, not for the actual building of them. There was a large vote to continue the investigation.
So why all of a sudden are the local papers reporting that the whole village is behind the scheme to build new houses? I suspect that the vote will easily be turned into a vote to build, rather than a vote to investigate.
So how clear was the voting? Well, there was a very large majority to investigate further, though there wasn't a proper count and none of the many abstentions were recorded? So, is this a proper vote, how (according to the press) does this give a mandate to the building of new houses?
I am also troubled by who voted for a yes (to investigate further). Stoke Climsland is a large parish and many people at the meeting didn't live directly in the village itself. Therefore would you vote yes (to investigate further) if it wasn't in your back yard?
I also question the need. Someone commented to me that they had very quickly scanned the estate agents windows in Callington and had counted at least 25 properties that were in the affordable housing bracket!
What are the motives behind this affordable housing?
Is it essential that they live in the village, why not commute from Callington or elsewhere?
Do we really want to expand the village with the danger of destroying its character and increasing the traffic down its roads? |
